Broken Things
by The Vulture Queen
Summary: In hindsight maybe we shouldn't have replaced social services with bewear attacks. Welcome to Alola! The kids are not alright.
1. Silver and Lead

Content Warning  
This is a story about not being okay. There will be attempts to recreate the language of downward spirals, suicidal ideation, eating disorders, , anxiety, and possibly other things. I will do my best to provide chapter warnings for chapters dealing explicitly with suicidal ideation. If there are other notices you would like me to add, feel free to ask.

Note on Representation  
This story deals with analogues to real world groups, albeit through an alternate universe lens. I have personal experience with some, but definitely not all of the things this story deals with. I have tried to read enough to not make big mistakes in my knowledge gaps, but I'll probably screw up. Feel absolutely free to point out any portrayals that don't sit well or quite work. As a minor disclaimer, not all POV characters are terribly knowledgeable about things. There are some "mistakes" made that I know full well are mistakes. And also the usual "no character could possibly encompass all aspects of an identity" thing.

**Mission One: Normal**

_"Times of transition are strenuous, but I love them. They are an opportunity to purge, rethink priorities, and be intentional about new habits. We can make our new normal any way we want."  
-Kristin Armstrong_

* * *

**Normal 1.1: Silver and Lead**

_Before…_

The room is cold and clean and empty.

You drum your fingers on the table and hear the sounds of metal being struck and all the little echoes bouncing off of the glass and the walls. It fills the room but hurts your hand; you stop and the room is empty again. You think about going back to swinging your legs and sometimes kicking the side of the chair on accident but that hurt, too.

It has been a long time since the police officers left you in here. You don't know how long. You're pretty good at reading clocks now, even the old ones with the moving sticks, but there isn't one in this room.

This is maybe the longest time out you've ever been given.

You're cold. You're cold and you want to cry. You're cold and you want to cry and you want Dad to come and hold you but he can't because Dad's

The door opens with the sound of metal scraping across metal.

Two police officer men walk in. Their footsteps echo on the floor and fill the room with a power that none of your sounds ever matched. They sit down across from you and the door swings shut.

One leans forward and he clears his throat. Then he presses a finger against the part of the shirt right over his heart like he's pressing a doorbell. "This is Sergeant Rick Johnson of the Virbank City Police Department. The time is 14:29 on May 11th, 1999. Can you state your name for the record, ma'am?"

You stare at him until he clears his throat again and you realize the last part wasn't directed at the air or his pocket, but at you.

"My name is Rachel Eliza Bell."

You speak as clearly as you can, but your voice doesn't come close to filling the room.

"And what's your date of birth?"

"Um…"

"What's your birthday?" He clarifies.

"April 16th."

"And how old are you now?"

"Seven."

The other officer pulls out a notepad and a pen and starts writing on it. Did you say something wrong?

"Miss Bell, do you have any idea why you're here today?"

Dad.

You try to put words together but the officer gets bored first and speaks up.

"The department has been looking into a murder. Husband of a police officer found dead in the woods outside of town, anti-police graffiti on the trees around the area. The deceased was Marcus Bell."

He looks you dead in the eyes for a few seconds. Was… was that a question?

"Yes," you say.

"What was your relationship to the deceased?"

"I'm sorry—"

"How did you know Marcus Bell?"

"He's my father."

Everyone else keeps using past words. Was. Were. It's… he's still your father. Even if

"Right. Miss Bell, do you know what 'death' is?"

"Yes."

Your herdier (Fluffy) was playing in the street and got hit by a car when you were six and a half. You know what death is.

The man keeps going, barely letting your tinny echoes ring out before he smothers them.

"We still haven't found a suspect in the case. Now, your teacher says that you have an… interesting theory on the matter." You don't like his eyes. At all. They're the eyes your mom has when you spill things or interrupt her while she's on the phone. "Well, we're here now. And we'd certainly appreciate it if you knew who did it."

The other police officer has put the notebook down. He's also showing you mean eyes, but… less. More like Dad's mean eyes than Mom's.

"Mom did it," you whisper. It's so quiet that there isn't an echo at all.

"Can you speak up, miss?"

"My mom did it."

"Your mother is Evelyn Bell, correct?"

You swallow down nothing and try not to cry. Your mom hates it when you cry and it might be a police thing.

"Your mother is—"

"Yes."

It's a quiet yes, but he doesn't make you speak up again.

"She is currently an eleven-year veteran of the Virbank Police Department, correct?"

"I… I don't know how long she's been your friend."

Officer Johnson sighs, rolls his eyes, and leans back into his chair.

"And why do you think Mrs. Bell killed her husband?"

You squirm in your seat. You just know. The feeling in the back of your head that tells you who took your pencil, or that Ms. Bethany thought you were annoying, or that Officer Johnson doesn't believe you, or that the other police officer does but doesn't care.

"Well, speak up."

"A feeling," you say. "In my head."

Officer Johnson smiles. It's very… _wrong _with the subject and the feelings.

"Rachel, I can't imagine what you must be going through right now. But your mommy loved your daddy very much, and she has an alibi. Unless you have some real proof…"

He trails off. Gives you a chance to prove it to him. Which you can't.

Even if you _know _that you're right.

* * *

_Now…_

It's always fascinating watching your espeon eat, even after seventeen years. He nudges a treat into place with the tip of his claw, steps back, and lifts the treat just a little bit into the air. Then he pulls back his whispers and brings his mouth around it before swallowing it whole. No crumbs ever touch his fur.

With his food eaten, Espy levitates the crumbs off the desk and into the wastebasket. Then he stretches out, walks in a circle, and gracefully sits down with his tail outstretched and a paw on your hand.

{You're tired.} he says.

"I could use a nap."

{Mind tired.}

You pull up your schedule instead of giving him an answer.

New journey group initiation today. You should stop by that, scan for potential problems before they blow up in your face.

The governor's having a fundraiser tonight and you'll be there. He's a nice man. Genuinely likes you. Has a tendency to talk a little too much when he's lonely and just a little bit tipsy and thinks he can trust someone. And given the way that things seem to be going at home and in the polls, well, he's very lonely and probably drinking a little more than he should. And it's your job to be likeable and trustworthy. When the public thinks of your company, they should think of their beloved sports star and hero. When the investors, reporters and politicians do, they should think of the pretty blond girl who either kind of flirted with them in just the way they liked or who gave them the kind of compliments they needed. Put a pretty face on your operation so no one ever wants to peel off the surface and look beneath.

Between the two meetings? Email. Hours of email. And maybe a quick nap, if you're lucky.

* * *

It's an hour into orientation. Sometimes you'll stay to watch the full thing, make sure that you know what's being taught and how. Saves you time when the wrong person leaks the wrong thing (that they remembered wrong) and you have to figure out what really happened before you can tell the press what pretty much happened.

First few hours are nothing important, anyway. Here's a little about Alola and the island challenge. What are tents and why should you use one? Like your food? Try not to get it stolen. Budgeting could maybe be helpful. This predator lives in these places and here is how you avoid it. The basics of life on the trail, with or without VStar.

The sensitive stuff—payment methods and tables, how to stay within the letter of capture limit laws, corporate facilities and affiliates, mortality rates, advancement paths, mission assignments, legal duties to the company—that all gets crammed in at the end.

Room's emptier than usual. Only eight initiates, most mid- to upper-teens. It's to be expected. October is a garbage month for starting a journey since it's in the middle of a semester and right at the start of the rainy season. Most of your new trainers come to the April, May, and June sessions. The people who come in October are the really over-eager ten-year-olds who can't wait to get on the trail or teenagers who can't stay in their home a second longer.

Group isn't bored yet. Doesn't pay you too much mind when you sit down in a corner chair. Half of them look at you for a moment before glancing back to the presentation. One girl's eyes linger for a little until she makes eye contact and immediately turns away.

Okay. Time to start scanning.

A lot of telepaths just read minds like a book. Or as a monitor with code shifting faster than you could ever hope to read, as a former roommate put it. Your talent doesn't work that way. It's more akin to sonar. Send out a wave, wait to see what image you get back. Usually it just dredges up a secret or two: the thing that there's the most resistance to you knowing. If you really focus you can get a basic overview of their personality.

Theoretically you could have your scan bring everything back, but it'd probably take you a week to process and land you in a hospital bed for a few months. If you weren't lucky it would land you in a coffin.

You click your tongue on the roof of your mouth (not necessary, but it helps you focus) and look at the first kid. And he is very much a kid. Ten, probably. Biggest secret is that his parents don't want him to do this. Definitely an overeager child whose family won't or can't pay for the journey. No security risk, as long as someone sits him down and explains what the non-disclosure agreements mean.

Second ping. Another boy, late teens this time. Got a girl pregnant and ran away to avoid the fallout. Probably doesn't have the money to pay for a journey and parental assistance is very unlikely. Moderate security risk. He shouldn't be told anything really sensitive, but you'll greenlight him.

Third kid. Girl, mid-teens… scion of one of the Big Six landowning families. Why is she even here? VStar gives structure, but it's not the most efficient way to go on a journey. And the money can't possibly matter to her unless she's been exiled or she ran away.

Exile is unproblematic, although it's the type of gossip you'd like to be aware of. If she did something bad enough that her family would bring hell down upon you for sheltering her, you would have heard what she did by this point. If she's a runaway her family might give you endless PR and legal hell until you give their daughter back.

Supplemental scan doesn't dig up much. Kid's kind of flighty, kind of lonely. Cautious and kind at her core. Very recent trauma with a trail of shame before and ahead of it. And maybe something buried. Supports either theory, but her temperament makes you think she's not a runaway. Minds like hers are allergic to rebellion.

Fourth is an addict to harder stuff than anything you've ever dared experiment with. Only mid-teens, too. What a waste of a life. Moderate security risk.

Fifth is female, probably native. Kleptomaniac. Old enough to have been involved in Skull back in its heyday. Very high security risk. Shouldn't let her download the app or sit through the last hour of the presentation.

Sixth. Young girl. Probably ten, maybe eleven. And she's… oh. Abuse. Probably getting away as soon as possible. Smart kid. You'll look the parents up so you have blackmail at the ready if they try and take their kid back. Low security risk.

Seventh is… familiar? You try to never forget a face but it still just eludes you. By the second minute of staring he's (she's?) definitely noticed and you avert your gaze. Secret dredging time then. See what you missed…

Yup. You recognized her. Jabari's little sister. And for some reason she really, really doesn't want you to know that. Definitely need to look into that situation. Could be a high risk or a very low one. Probably shouldn't do a further scan. Jabari might take it the wrong way.

The eighth is in her mid-teens? Early teens? Very short and still rather thin, but her features make her look a little older. Deep set eyes, angular face. Native girl, if you had to guess. Jade green hair. If it's natural, it's rare but not unheard of. If it's dyed, then you need to ask her where she got it done. Kind of weird colorful dress. Probably wool Might be handmade. Big thing? She's blind. Clouded eyes, white cane, whole deal. Can she really do this? You aren't going to send a kid out into the woods knowing that she'll get killed by the first predator she can't see coming.

Still, in case you don't rule her out, a secret scan can't hurt.

A moment later alarm bells of panic and despair and random memories and pain rock your mind. The thoughts came back to you after the scan but it's like they were cut up in a blender, sharpened into daggers and then launched straight back into your brain. An attack? How? She's…

Your eyes open wider as it dawns on you. She's psychic. Probably another telepath. Strong. And not trained in any style you're familiar with. All that? And native? And blind? This definitely shouldn't be the first you've heard of her. You like to think that you've met every other psychic in the commonwealth and not a one has ever brought her up.

You got her attention. She's slowly rotating her head to survey the room with either sound or some remaining vision, her foot tapping nervously the whole time.

How do you salvage this? It's literally never happened before, and that's not something you can say very often these days. Thought process isn't helped by the thrum of pain in your head, alternating sharp and dull so you never quite get used to it. You breathe deeply and send her a special ping, one with a message attached.

{Sorry. I'm Rachel. Work for VStar. Talk after this?}

Short, simple concepts. They translate best. Especially if she mostly thinks in Alolan. And it's all you're really capable of now after the beating you just took.

There's not an immediate response, but you can feel her mind through the partial connection. It's a terrible risk, leaving the connection open. If she's a stronger telepath than you are, and you just gave her an access point to your mind… well, who knows what she could do with that. You've seen enough telepaths in your life that you don't even want to imagine it.

{…hi?} You let out a sigh of relief. She's not hostile. Not yet. {Are you human?}

You smile in spite of yourself. She might be strong, but she's either bluffing or she has absolutely no idea what she's doing. You could probably take her in a fight in your own mind while injured, if you had to. And it's kind of cute; it's fun watching the babies learn.

{Yes. I'm Rachel. Work for VStar. Talk after orientation?}

{Okay,} she shoots back almost immediately. A second passes as you ready your response. {Am I in trouble?}

{No. Want to talk.}

{Okay.}

She leans forward in her seat and sets her arms down on the table and sends no further messages. You should probably leave her now. Let her pay attention to the boring travel stuff. She, of all people, is going to need it.

* * *

Your alarm goes off at 3:00 P.M. and you swear at the ceiling before awkwardly rolling over in your pop-up hammock and turning it off. It had been a ninety-minute nap (really forty-five since you replied to some emails while lying still with the lights off). And you still feel miserable. How does that work?

Well… part of that's the mental bruising. A cold and empty memory that keeps resurfacing, feelings of panic when looking at random objects, a slight fog over everything, and random sights and sounds getting turned into metal walls and tinny echoes. Plus you have an absolutely brutal headache. You make a point of taking an aspirin, knowing that it won't really help but hoping the placebo effect does enough to make you comfortable. Which might negate the placebo effect. Is there a placebo effect where you know that the placebo effect does make people feel better, but that it doesn't actually do anything physically, but the thought that this might make you feel better even though it doesn't work makes you improve anyway because you half-expect it to? A placebo placebo effect.

This definitely isn't making your headache any better.

First things first. You text the instructor to make sure that the possible Skull defector gets kicked out before the mortality tables come up. VStar's mortality rates are lower than the general journey-goer rates, but dead kids are dead kids and it never feels like there's anything to say, much less anything good.

Second: a phone call. Two rings. Voicemail. Saw it but can't or won't answer. Understandable, since his job involves herding dragons. The room is cold and clean and empty. Focus. Deep breaths. The third ceiling tile diagonal from the corner does not want to kill you. Voicemail. You're in your office, the year is 2019, and you are leaving a voicemail. The metal—not metal—walls have light blue wallpaper. "Hey, Jabari. This is Rachel. Call me back when you get a chance. It's about your sister."

Third: daughter of Ernest Gage, the spider silk magnate. That one you might have to deal with in person, or at least at the fundraiser tonight. He and his wife will probably be there. It would be rude to get the information directly on such a sensitive subject, but there will be other attendees who love nothing more than swapping secrets. The room is cold and clean

Fourth: You pull up the new trainer's files. Abused girl is Aiko Katou. Mother is a barber, dad is a plumber. Good news is that they can't really go after the company—the men will never believe you—Bad news is that if the family's got nothing, they've got nothing to lose. Blackmail won't do much. It might only succeed in letting them know where their daughter went. Still might try and get your hands on Why does the ceiling have teeth? By kings, this headache sucks.

Sixth: Blind girl is Cuicatl Ichtaca. From Anahuac. Fifteen years old. Here on a challenge visa. Explains how you've never heard of her. Didn't report any pokémon. You'll need to start her off slow or put her with some strong teammates for her protection, but if she's psychic then she might be worth keeping around. If your interview checks out. Moles can be annoying; a telepathic mole could be a catastrophe of the highest order. The room is cold and. Stop. Breathe. You can't find anything online about her and the commonwealth's immigration services can be annoyingly leak-proof on minors, so that's the end of that investigation. For now.

Seventh—something brushes against your leg. You look down to see Espy looking up at you, holding his leash in his mouth.

Seventh: Go outside. Take your fox on a walk. Stop thinking about work for a minute. Make new memories. Be calm. Outside is warm and dirty and open.

* * *

You pull two water bottles and two packets from the refrigerator tucked under your desk and place them on the table. "Water, if you're thirsty. I know those meetings last a while. And I put some gummies there, too. Good to eat every two hours or so. Good for your brain."

Her hand freezes in midair right before taking the water. It's only for a moment, and she proceeds on like nothing had happened.

"Hey, it's fine. You can't be responsible for things you didn't know to do."

She doesn't answer that. Natural shyness? Nervousness? Poor English? You never realize how much your scans are a crutch until you find yourself without them.

"Who are you? Besides your name," she asks.

You smile. Uselessly. Doesn't matter either way.

"Right. I'm Rachel. I'm one of the Vice Presidents for VStar. I handle new recruits, among other things."

"…and I'm not in trouble?"

"No. No, not at all. Just don't get many psychics passing through. I try to meet with them individually."

"I meant for the, um. Did I hurt you?"

Yes. Yes, you did.

"Not very much," you say, bringing a smile into your voice. "Napped, took a walk, cleared my head. It's fine now." And it mostly is. Espy could help a little once he had some sunlight to power him up.

Her head dips a little. Shame, probably. "Okay. I'm sorry."

"No, no. Don't worry about it. I'm the one who," time to take a drink of water and figure out how to finish that sentence without coming off wrong, "reached out to your mind first. Should have asked. Standard for new psychics." You set the bottle down. Nailed it.

"Oh."

Is there a polite way to ask her about her English skills? Because you don't actually have a Nahuatl speaker in the building. That you know of. Might be a good idea to check.

"You don't have much training with your powers, do you?"

She gently shakes her head. "No. My mom's reuniclus taught me a little. I figured some of the rest out. Never met a psychic but my brother."

"You grew up around pokémon, then?"

Her lips curl into a smile and she makes (near) eye contact as a hundred tiny things change in her expression. She goes from sullen and afraid to absolutely adorable in the blink of an eye.

"Yes. My mom's team lived near the house. I took care of them. She had a reuniclus, a heatmor, a swanna, a ferrothorn, a conkeldurr," she really is infectiously cute when she's excited, with her kind of high pitched voice and its rapid pace, "and a hydreigon."

Your heart skips a beat. Her face is the exact same but all of the cuteness gone.

"A hydreigon?"

"Yes! Her names are Alice, Dorothy, and Ilsa. Alice was first and is in the center so that's her one name. But she prefers her three names."

A wild hydreigon flew within thirty miles of the academy once and they shut down classes for a week. Parents accused them of underreacting.

"Uh huh. And, um, you took care of her? Them?"

"She likes 'ellas.' She doesn't know that there's more than one language and they have different words," she says. As if this is just a normal thing.

"I see."

You are very, very glad that she can't see the color of your face right now. You know full well that your alakazam is a telepathic monster that can fry a man's mind in seconds, but you will never, ever be comfortable with dragons. And why should you? You've seen one absolutely shred a tank without breaking a sweat. Do dragons sweat? You have absolutely no desire to look that up.

Focus. You need to change the subject a little. Useful information in those statements? She has a brother, but he's presumably not here. If Cuicatl cared for her mom's hydreigon, her mom also can't be in the picture anymore. Or she was horribly irresponsible. Either way? Dangerous topic. She speaks Spanish and seems to have a decent grasp on English. Cuicatl said she doesn't have any pokémon on the form. How did that happen? _Did_ it happen? She wouldn't be the first kid to tell a lie on their paperwork. Okay. Alice. Ellas. How did she find out that Alice liked ellas?

"Can you speak to pokémon?"

"Sometimes. Not with Alice. In her mind, at least. But we understand each other."

"I see. What all can you do with your mind? I can tell secrets and foresee pain."

"…secrets?"

She runs a shade paler and you can hear her foot tap against the side of the chair. Nervous tic that you share.

"Not yours. Your shielding is very good. Not trained, but effective."

"Oh. Thank you. Renfield—reuniclus taught me that."

That wasn't an answer. But it does explain why it felt so much like the headaches Espy can give you when she's really, really angry.

"Talking to pokémon is usually telepathy, then. Projecting and reading thoughts. Empathy is sensing emotions. There's usually some overlap, but not always."

She frowns. "I think I just have telepathy. Do people usually only have one thing?"

You shake your head. Um. Time to fix that. "Sometimes. You don't see things before they happen? See things you shouldn't? Move things with your mind?"

"I don't see anything."

Poor wording. Anne would've torn you a new one if she'd heard. But Cuicatl doesn't look too offended. Even smiling, just a little. But not nearly as brightly as before.

"But you can't do any of those things?"

"Right."

You give her a chance to follow up. She doesn't. Just shifts in her seat and idly taps a foot on the floor, soft enough that she probably doesn't even know she's doing it. Whatever rapport you built talking about her pokémon, it's gone now. Time for another subject change.

"What brings you to Alola, then?"

"I wanted, um, to go on a journey? And Unova didn't want to take me. I don't have much money so a girl in the Pokémon Center said I should come here."

There's a shred of truth in there, but she's an awful liar. Don't even need your telepathy to see through that. New topic options: PsiTest scoring seems a little too close to the last question and she doesn't want to talk about why she's here so… old pokémon."

"Did you bring any of your mom's team with you?"

She freezes up. Full deerling in headlights. Shit shit shit shit abort abort abort.

"Hey its—"

"No, I didn't." Speech is off. Breathing is erratic. Approach and escalate? Keep quiet and seem callous? Response depends on the type of breakdown you're seeing.

…the kid has to be alone here. Half an ocean from home, at least one parent out of the picture, apart from her pokémon for maybe the first time…

She shouldn't have to have panic attacks alone.

You get up from your seat and move around the desk to kneel beside her. Then you put a hand on her shoulder and press down a little bit. "It's alright," you whisper, "we can get you new friends and a new pokémon."

The waterworks open in full. Before you can decide if you should hug or not, Espy jumps into her lap. Kid didn't mention owning a dog, fox, or cat, but she's still a gentle petter. Holds out her hand for a second for Espy to sniff. Then gently pets the ears and runs her hand back in slow, light strokes.

You take the moment to think as Cuicatl's breaths get steadier. You remove your hand from her shoulder to avoid smothering her. Homesickness? Trauma? Other mental illness? Kid needs emotional support in any case. Ideally something intelligent enough for her to talk to, social enough to cuddle, and fluffy enough to pet. Difficulty of care and bonding shouldn't be problems difficulty of bonding if she kept herself and a hydreigon alive. Maybe something a little difficult to distract her. Eevee would work. Not big enough to be a good guide, though, even when fully evolved.

…

There _is_ a pokémon that fits all of those criteria, but she's trouble. She'd either be a silver bullet for Cuicatl's problems or a lead bullet straight to her heart.

You put your hand back on Cuicatl's shoulder and she flinches from the touch.


	2. Firemane

**Normal 1.2: Firemane  
**_Pixie_

They're talking about you again.

You don't understand many of the words, but you know the tone. Talking more in breath than sound, trying to sound quieter than they really are. The same mock concern they take on the moment they turn away from your table, like you aren't still in the room.

But you don't care. You don't really care about anything anymore, except maybe for Avalanche. You wonder if she's thought of you in the last few… days? Weeks? Months? Between the capsule and the trailer you haven't had many chances to be outside and count the changing skies and you aren't sure how often the humans leave and make it dark.

No, as much as you'd like to believe it you can't imagine Avalanche cares about you anymore. The nine-tails only keep two of their litters to train. It lets them keep the territories intact. When the unchosen become three-tails they set off on their own. Your body and mind and comfort are your problems now, not hers.

And, because you don't care, those things are now the problems of the people in ice-colored-metal.

They keep you alive. They try to coax you into eating things that help with the bruises and scars. You won't, because it's your mouth and you eat what you want. Which is nothing. They took a capsule out once and you bit them. They let you sleep on the table instead of in a cage like the others, and you've learned to sleep in the dark while the humans are away and rest on the table in daylight, keeping an eye open for more capsules.

There's a new human talking with the faux-ice humans. Young and female. Like you. You catch a glimpse of her mane when she walks in. Thick, curly and went a little past her shoulder-blades. Light-yellowish, like the fire-tails in the stories Avalanche told you. It has leaves in it, some dirt. Even from a distance it smells unclean, although humans seemed to have a higher tolerance for that. It would be pretty if cared for and you want to run your paws and tongue through it to clean it up like you would for your own coat. Like Avalanche did for you.

You suppose you still care that you look like a fox should. But presentation is sort of like breathing, so you aren't sure that counts.

New human approaches you again, with the other humans behind her. She walks up to your table, looking away like this isn't premeditated, and stops at the edge. You cast him the sort of wary, frigid look that only an ice-type can manage in response.

"Hey," she says. "Can I pet you?"

You don't understand the words, but she offers her paw, keeping it head-length away from your snout. She doesn't smell nervous. Is this how humans communicate social receptiveness? You haven't had much chance to see that behavior.

It takes you a few seconds to decide, but you eventually do move to push your face against their paw, rubbing your scent glands against it. Her paw is warm, but not unpleasantly so. You sneeze and a burst of cold air radiates from your body. The human recoils for a second, probably on reflex, but puts her paw back up to your head when you look at her expectantly.

* * *

She's back the next time the ice-metal humans are.

* * *

This time she opens up the door and looks at you.

"You want to go outside?"

The words are mostly unfamiliar, but you grasp the intent. Yes, you decide, sunlight heat and flower smell would be nice. Rising on your paws is painful as you feel the muscles and skin ripple around your scars and bruises, but nothing tears. One of the humans picks you up gently and cradles you in his arms, like Avalanche would in her jaws when you were a kit. You are unsure how you misbehaved this time. Was it a not genuine offer? A trick?

They set you down in the grass outside. No. Not a trick. Just a different way of communicating.

The sun and air are much warmer on the surface, but your body quickly begins cooling itself to adjust. Everything around you cools to your temperature but you can still feel the sunlight striking your fur. And you can smell the foliage. There are different flowers here than you have on the mountain and there are far more of them. You absent-mindedly walk up to one and wrap your jaws around it to get a better feel for its taste and texture. The young human pulls you away.

"If you want food, they have more vulpix-friendly stuff in there."

Her tone is cheerful, but you recognize the pleading edge and the 'food' vocalization. You turn away and walk closer to the big black human-trail, puffing up your tails behind you in a show of defiance. Before you reach it, a much larger pokemon cuts you off. He's quadrupedal, red-and-black-colored and you can feel radiated heat enter your personal blizzard. Fire-type. Big fire-type.

He notes your reaction and adjusts quickly, holding his tail still and lowering himself to the ground before rolling on to his side.

"Didn't mean to scare you. Just want to play."

It's a feline dialect. Close enough to your native vulpine to understand, even if you aren't sure you got all the possible subtext.

You tilt your head. "Play?"

"Yes. Chase each other around or—" He stops short and rises to his paws before slowly walking towards you, head down. You allow him to brush his face against yours. "You're sick?" He asks. "You should get that fixed."

You slowly lay down and show him your stomach. "How do you heal this?"

His eyes narrow. "Do you have a ball? Or have they tried potions? Those look old and improperly healed, but…" He shakes his head. "You'll need to get those looked at before we can play. And eat. You look underfed. Are they providing food or…?"

You tuck your tails between your legs, turn around and head back inside. You don't want to talk about it. What happened. What happened after. Why you don't care. He seems well-meaning, and he shouts after you that he'll be back to play later, but there are things that a healthy fire cat with a gentle (if poorly groomed) human mother can't understand.

Still. The human seems to like you, and she at least takes care of her cat. She's not like… like they were. You wonder why she came back, why she cares about you, and you realize that maybe she wants to put you on your team. You'd leave the room. She'd stuff you in a ball, sometimes.

But it's something to hope for. And you'll take it.

* * *

You eat that night. The food is dry and bland, but you get some down your throat before your stomach gets upset. Then you let them spray things on you (which sting and hurt) and put you into another capsule. They keep you in it until it's bright out again.

You stretch out with your front paws and feel your belly react. It hurts less than it did when you went into the ball. You roll onto your side and move to scout out the area with your tongue, but you're met with a spray of water when you do so. On reflex you uncurl, climb to your paws and hiss blindly in the water's direction, kicking up a frozen mist around you in the process.

A human forepaw reaches down to your arched back and you bite the air around it before bothering to take in more information. It's the young female human. Firemane. You'll call her Firemane. She seems a bit startled, but not angry. You calm down a bit and let her stroke your back, but you won't warm up the air for her while she does it.

After a few strokes she reaches down to pick you up, doing so by wrapping her arms around your side and hugging you to her chest. Won't touch your underside. But she's less gentle when she drops you down on the table (you still land perfectly, of course) and you feel the bump less.

"She's doing much better," one of the humans says. "We're very thankful for your help in this."

Firemane. You know that sound well enough, but it doesn't seem to be threatening. The last times you heard it were followed by violence. This one is only followed by a chunk of delicious smelling food the size of your head being dumped in front of you.

"Not all at once," Firemane says. You can guess the meaning, and it's unnecessary. You couldn't eat this much if you wanted to.

You end up getting much closer than you would have thought in the end, but half of it's still left. That goes to the cat, who devours in three bites what took you dozens. Firemane talks to the other humans for a bit after while the fire cat tries to make conversation with you. But he's very large and his voice is always approximating a growl, even when he seems to be happy.

Firemane leaves you a while later with a thorough head scratching.

* * *

They aren't back the next day. Or the next week. Or the next month. You let them spray you with nasty liquids and put you in a capsule and cut you open (while you're asleep, but still) but Firemane never comes back.

And with every day you sit on a table doing nothing, watching the humans care for sicker creatures until they leave and their sunlight stops you start to feel a little bit more like you did before you were healed.

Eventually your stomach is fine. They let you lick it again and you can only feel the scar if you really press your tongue down, doing your best to weave it between all the tufts of fur. And you still don't know what comes next. But that's fine.

You don't care.

* * *

You wake up to the sound of your kennel being unlocked. Odd. You're usually awake by walk time. Without opening your eyes you stretch out and fluff up your six-and-a-half tails. When you look up you reflexively freeze the air around you. The woman staring at you is the matriarch of the facility, the one that all of the other humans submit to. She almost never comes down here. Why is she here? Why is she here for you?

Matriarch steps back and waves her paw. "Come on, Pixie. We have things to discuss."

You gracefully leap from the kennel to the ground and trail after her as she walks. She opens the door to the visiting room and you follow, leaping onto the table as she sits down.

You immediately puff your fur up and hiss. There's another fox here. A short-furred, hideous pink fox with one good tail and a pathetic growth of a second. Eevee. You don't know what gimmick this one has, but they're all just eevee to you.

"Pixie, play nice," Matriarch scolds. Even though that disgraceful asshole is on _your _table.

You generously let it go with a single scathing huff and look back at Matriarch.

"Good, now that you're paying attention, let me be brief. I'm giving you your sixth and final second chance with a trainer. Are we clear?"

You blink. She's threatening you. Can you growl at her? Or should you submit? You don't want to submit in front of the imposter fox. Or to someone threatening you.

"I'll take that as a no. What I'm saying is, your shit stops now. No more peeing on pillows, hiding pokéballs in the woods, freezing the ground your trainer is about to step on, letting all hell break loose when you see another eevee, or trying to hurt teammates. Again, are we clear?"

That is a very unfair assessment. You only did the first three things because your trainer was already going to abandon you and your window for revenge was very time limited. And every eevee deserves it, with their tangled manes and their insufferable pleading eyes and their "look at me, I can cosplay as a guardian of the peaks or a firetails or a fish or anything I want" nonsense like that makes them better than you. And you obviously weren't trying to hurt that rabbit. You were trying to kill it.

Matriarch sighs and cradles her head in her forepaws. "Pixie. I like this one. I think you can help her and she can help you. She's probably the best trainer you're going to get. If you're just incompatible, fine. I'll sell you off to a zoo on the mainland. But if you hurt her I will personally haul you back to Mt. Lanakila and see how long it takes until the vanilluxe get you." With that she stands up and walks towards the exit, her eevee trailing behind her. "I'll be back in a few minutes. You had best prepare yourself to make a good impression."

Then she shuts the door and leaves you alone. The gall she has. You never even did anything to her and she's acting like you already killed her kit. Fine. If this goes downhill, she's given you no incentive to show restraint. She wants a fight, you'll give her one.

When Matriarch reenters her foreleg is gently wrapped around the other human's and Matriarch is slowly walking towards the table with her. Other human has a strange white stick. A weapon? It wouldn't be very effective against you. Foolish to even try. Matriarch walks the smaller human to a seat and gently helps her down before shooting you a wicked glare and turning to leave. Then you're alone with your last chance trainer.

She's very small. Even by adolescent human standards. Her whole frame is delicate. Skin is… a little too in the middle. Humans are least hideous when they are very pale or very dark. She's on the darker end, but not quite far enough to be visually pleasant. Her mane is green, which is a strange and somewhat disturbing color, but it is very shiny and well cared for. Her falsefur is white, which is the best color. Then her eyes… they're only half moving. And something is off in them. Shimmers over the surface like a barely frozen pond.

The care that Matriarch took, the eye shimmers: she's blind. What a cruel joke. Sticking you with a tiny, frail human who cannot even appreciate your majesty.

"Hello, Pixie," she says. It's soft and kind of high pitched and it flows well. Like the sound that wind makes when it hits the little metal sticks humans hang in front of windows. Except more human and voice-y. Still not enough to make you like her. She extends a paw out for you to smell or rub or whatever but you don't stand up to go to it and she eventually sticks it down flat on the table. "My name is Cuicatl Ichtaca. I'm from Anachuac. I hope you will be friends with me."

Nope. You will not give Matriarch the satisfaction. Human does not get the obvious hint and keeps talking.

"I've never met an ice-type before. My home town was very warm. There were mountains nearby with snow on top, but they were very dangerous so my dad never let me go. One of my friends could fly up but never did because ellas didn't like the cold."

She keeps bad friends. And if she is too weak to climb mountains you do not want to associate with her.

"I read about vulpix once. It was a long time ago so I forget some things. You're nocturnal, right?"

Obviously. What masochistic creature would ever want to go outside in the Alolan sunlight?

"If you are, then you probably won't want to be outside in the day when I go places. I am okay with that. I can get around well enough with my cane. We can play and train around dusk and dawn. But I usually try to sleep at night, so not then."

It is a better offer than most trainers make. But no. Not for the blind kit of an eevee trainer.

"I don't know what your other trainers taught you. But I have ideas for battle. You could be a really good arena controller and zoner. Using hail and frozen patches to make it harder to get to you, and then hit them with from far away. Or just put them to sleep or trap them and then set up. You're probably fast enough to be a sweeper. Or will be fast enough when you evolve."

You are fast enough now to 'sweep' anything, whatever that means.

"Do you know roar?" she asks.

You do, just to show her how good your roaring is and maybe make her run away. She smiles, which is not the proper reaction. The proper reaction is terror and reverence. Worse, she giggles.

"Sorry. I'm not laughing at you. You're just really cute."

You bark to scold her. It's very annoying that she can't just understand your glares and know when to shut up and fall in line. And the bark does silence her and she stops baring her teeth for just a second. Good.

"Oh. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings." You fluff up your tails. Her? Hurt you? Impossible. The most she could do is annoy you. "I think that I went at this wrong. Can we start over?"

…what?

"Hello, Pixie. My name is Cuicatl Ichtaca. I want you to be my friend. If you don't want to, that's fine. You can stay here. But if there's anything I can help you with…"

You harrumph. What could _she_ possibly help _you _with?

"I don't know, Pixie. I was hoping you could tell me." What? "I want friends. And money. And I thought you could help. But if there's nothing I can do for you, then you should stay here. Maybe someone else will be able to help you later."

You growl softly and menacingly and the human's half-smile is just her baring her teeth because she is very afraid of your wrath. You aren't actually sure what the zoo Matriarch threatened you with is beyond the name being utterly ridiculous, but it was still clearly a threat. So now this human is also threatening you.

"Oh. A zoo is a place where you'd have a big outdoor cage and humans would come to look at you."

Your tails flex out reflexively in shock. Err, in a temporary blip in your impeccable composure. You bark-hiss, "you understand me?"

"Yes, but it's much easier if you vocalize somehow." As you ponder that, she continues, "Why did she threaten to send you to one?"

You flick a tail down and growl, "No reason at all. I am a very good fox. She is a very bad human with a worse fox."

She bares a little more of her teeth at the injustice. "The horror."

"Exactly!" This one may be much smarter than the average human.

"I can take you if you want. And then either keep you, give you to another trainer, or release you to the wild. Whatever you want. Or I can leave you to the zoo."

You flick a tail down on the table. This was not a set of options you were expecting. You weren't really expecting options at all.

"What do you want, Pixie? What kinds of things make you happy?"

"Cold. Prey. Grooming. Toys. Proper respect."

"Hmm. The wild would probably have cold and prey. No one else would groom you and there wouldn't be toys. Don't know about respect. The zoo would have grooming and toys. Maybe cold. No prey, definitely not respect. I could give you grooming and toys. I'd try to give you respect and you can tell me if I'm not. No cold, though, sorry. Other trainers couldn't talk to you but if you don't like me they could give you the toys and grooming."

Many words. Good breakdown of options. You were going to just pick the one that sounded best, and probably will, but she is good at thinking. Rare in her species.

"What do you mean by respect, anyway?"

This is not an easy concept to express. It's just respect. Every vulpix understands it. You aren't even sure how much she understands of your language, but you try to express it.

"I am prettier and stronger and smarter than everyone else and they should recognize it and submit to me."

"I'm sure you're very pretty, strong, and smart," she correctly says. "I would try to help you. Give you food and love and try to make you even stronger. But I can't promise I'll do everything you say. You would have to help me sometimes. And sometimes that help would be taking 'no' for an answer."

"I do not need help," you say.

"Then you're best off alone."

Alone.

A shiver wracks your body.

You are not afraid of alone.

The human sighs. "Do you want love?"

You bark, yes, of course, you deserve love.

"Love is help," she responds. "Do you want help?"

You stare into her awful, foggy eyes. There's brown somewhere in them. The dullest, worst color.

"Do you want me to hold you?"

Your legs rise up and move towards her and you hate your limbs for it. She extends her forelegs, slowly at first, and then she flips you over and moves you towards her chest all at once. It's not unpleasant, just unexpected. You yip in surprise and she whispers an apology. Then you're cradled in her forelegs, pressed against her body. She's warm. Not too warm, though. And it's nice to feel a heartbeat.

She is a trickster with clever words and whatever she says, someday, maybe even today, she will hate you and leave you like Firemane and all the others.

But for now Skysong is yours.


	3. Almost Natural

**Normal 1.3: Almost Natural  
**_Genesis_

You glance at the cheap cell phone that VStar gave you. It's got their app, texting, calls, a clock, notepad, and calculator… most of what you need. No space for anything else.

Now you just need the clock. 9:58. Your meeting was scheduled for 10:00 A.M. and you don't want to walk in that door early or late. Former makes you look like you've got nowhere else to be (which is true), latter makes it look like you don't care. Besides, 10:00 means 10:00.

9:59. The phone's black screen sort of works as a mirror, and your face looks fine for what you had to work with. There's a wall of glass separating the hall from a dark, empty conference room nearby. You look in that and find some wrinkles in your blouse that need smoothed out. Pokémon Center didn't have an iron and, honestly, you probably would've burned yourself on it. There's nothing you can do to keep things smooth for long because at the end of the day everything just gets shoved back into your bag.

10:00. You take a deep breath, release it slowly, slip the phone into your purse, and enter.

The room is nice enough. A whiteboard with markers, a few odd but comfortable looking seats (including a beanbag chair), a table in the middle. There's a phone charging station in the corner.

Only one seat is occupied. Even though you were supposed to meet two people… Anyway. She's the blind girl from orientation. Short, sat two rows over, maybe-homemade dress, didn't really have makeup on, had some killer cheekbones for her age. What are you supposed to do here? Shake her hand? Shake her body? Make eye contact? Would it even

"Hi," she says.

"Hi," you respond.

Smooth as ever, Gen. You plop down in the beanbag before things can get more awkward.

"My name is Cuicatl Ichtaca," Cuicatl Ichtaca says.

"Genesis. Just Genesis."

You shift in the beanbag and look at her. Something's… off from how you remember her. Haircut. She got a haircut. Went from chest length to just below her chin.

"You got a haircut," you sagely proffer.

"Yes. I loved my hair, but it wasn't practical for this.."

It's a shame. She had really pretty hair. A bit of curl but straight enough that it fell down in a lot of loose, shiny spirals. Green but not the bright, ugly, obviously dyed green. Almost natural. Maybe it was? You know that some people have that shade, but it's like a one in a million sort of thing. Is that a common thing in wherever she's from?

"Where are you from?" Crap that was probably not the right question. She's going to think you're some kind of a racist, which you're not—

"Anahuac."

"Oh. I know about it. A lot of your people come here. Not _here_ specifically, I actually haven't met many, but on the mainland. Um." You stop before you can dig deeper.

She puffs up a little. Which is bad. She's angry. But it's also kind of cute.

"My mom was Unovan," Cuicatl interjects.

Oh. Definitely here legally. That's good.

"Then you're a citizen?".

"…no. Here on challenge visa."

Maybe not legally. You'll have to do the talking if any cops show up. Which they shouldn't, because you aren't going to do any crimes. Except for the crime she already did.

The door opens again and your other traveling partner enters. He lets the door slam shut behind him with a loud noise somewhere between a click and a clack.

"'sup," he 'sups. Then he plops down into one of the firmer chairs, letting his back sink in and his legs sprawl out.

You squirm in your seat. What was his name? He was a few rows over, pretty close to Cuicatl. But you didn't remember her name either until she told you. Do you offer to share yours? That seems like a good idea. And he's been quiet long enough that it's awkward.

"I'm Genesis."

"And my name is Cuicatl Ichtaca."

He glances between you two before rolling his shoulders back and somehow sinking even deeper into his chair. "Kekoa. Nice to meet you, Jennifer and Kiwi."

"It's actually Cuicatl—"

"Yeah, I heard. Kiwi. Got it."

Cuicatl scowls.

"That's not even close."

Kekoa sighs and gives her the look of an adult answering the same question from a toddler for the fiftieth time that night. "And why should I give a shit?"

"Because she's your teammate and could be your friend," you offer.

Your help just seems to make Cuicatl's frown even deeper. "I don't need your help against her. But thank you for the offer."

"Him, thank you very much. I get that you're blind but that's no excuse to be a dumbass."

A small, sadistic smile crawls onto Cuicatl's face. "Sorry, Kekoa. You just have _such_ a girly voice, you know?"

He doesn't actually. It's maybe just on the masculine side of androgynous. Normal enough for a guy your age. Ditto for his face. Still chubby but not unusually so. Maybe with longer hair and different clothes he could pass for a girl.

"Heh. Well played."

There's a high pitch growl and a yap followed by the sound of something shaking itself off. Then an absolutely stunningly adorable holy vulpix walks around Cuicatl's chair with a tiny little frown on its cute face. Cuicatl's anger seems to freeze, and then abruptly thaw into a feeling that you can't quite place. Positive and warm but there are a thousand little variations on that and who knows which one it is.

"Pixie," she calls. The ice pupper flicks its head between Kekoa and Cuicatl, before spitting a cool breeze in Kekoa's direction and jumping into Cuicatl's lap. She holds her hand out for the fox to rub its face against.

You're jealous. Your starter is fine but he's no vulpix.

"Where'd you get her?" Kekoa asks.

"Gift."

"From whom?"

Cuicatl shrugs. "Why do you want to know?"

Okay, time to put a stop to this before another fight breaks out… whenever you figure out how to do that. Um.

"You guys want to get lunch?" you ask.

"Pokémon Center's closed for another half hour. I definitely don't have 'eat out' money right now," Kekoa says.

"Same," Cuicatl agrees.

Well at least they're agreeing with each other. Probably also agreeing that you're hopelessly out of touch.

You belatedly realize that you also don't have 'eat out' money right now. Sure, the Pokémon Center has food for now but soon you'll be on the trail out in the middle of nowhere. How will that work? That was probably covered in orientation but you were maybe kind of doodling at the time. You read somewhere that humans can take three days before they dehydrate, a month before they starve, so you might be fine if you just bring water bottles. Maybe trail mix. Is that why it's called trail mix?

Well. You've got about a week to figure that out before you'd really need to know it.

No one else tries to revive the conversation. New friends. What do you talk about with new friends?

"Where are you from, Kekoa?"

"Alola," he answers.

"So am, I mean, I live here. From Galar, I guess."

He narrows his eyes and draws himself up a little in the seat. "Cool."

You glance at Cuicatl. She's off in her own world petting her best boy. White fur is probably getting all over her black tunic in the process. Oh gods she probably doesn't even know since she can't see it. She might not even know what color her clothing is, or even what colors are at all and

"Do you know what colors are?"

Cuicatl freezes up. "What?"

"Colors, like, the… um. Nevermind."

She frowns and promptly looks away from you. "Kekoa, what are colors?" she says with a sense of urgency, almost panic, in her voice,.

He glances at you with his face kinda scrunched up in the middle (what feeling is that?) before he replies to her. "Like texture or flavor, but for sight."

Huh. That's a really good answer.

"What color is salty-rough, then?" Cuicatl asks.

"Orange," he responds without missing a beat.

"Bitter-fluffy?" The vulpix perks up a little at the last word. Yes. Like her. She is fluffy. What a good fox.

"Magenta."

Cuicatl nods. "Makes sense."

It really doesn't.

"Do you need help picking out matching clothes or…"

"Clothes?"

Cuicatl stares at you for several seconds. Well, not stares but she's looking in your direction with her cloudy, deep-set, unfocused, _wrong _eyes. Shouldn't she have sunglasses or something?

She laughs. It's a tiny giggle at first but it grows into a high-pitched, flowing laugh before long. And then Kekoa joins in with his slightly deeper and more resonant chuckle. What? What did you do?

"Sorry, Pix," Cuicatl says before gently pushing the vulpix off of her lap. Then she stands up, turns around and reaches down the back of her shirt before pulling out a homemade tag. "Braille description of the item and color. I try to keep good outfits bundled together, but most of the time I just wear… I guess you'd call them dresses. Sometimes shorts and t-shirts when I need to get dirty."

Oh. The whole color thing had been a joke. At your expense.

"What do you do for fun?" Cuicatl asks as she sits down.

"Running and reading. Sometimes swimming. And I'm in, well, was in, my school's band," you answer.

Kekoa snorts. "You would be a band kid." What's that supposed to mean?

You stare at him, even if you don't hold eye contact for long, and hope it's close enough to a glare. He's dressed way more casually than you, just wearing cargo shorts with some barely removed grass stains, sneakers a mile jog away from falling apart, and an alola shirt that's lost half of its color. He doesn't look at all intimidated by your stern expression, either. "Well, what do you like?"

He shrugs. "Video games, tv, sports. Normal stuff."

"What games?" you ask.

He shrugs. "Racing, mostly. I like fighting games but my parents won't let me play many."

"Ooh. I play Mario Kart." And you do play it for an hour a day before bed. You've gotten pretty good. But you know that it's not really "cool" so oh crap that might have been a mistake.

Kekoa smiles. "What version?"

Not a mistake!

"Switch, now."

He rolls his eyes. "Lucky. Still only have a Gamecube at my place."

"I started on Double Dash, so I should still be able to kick your butt on that."

"Deal."

You don't think he's looking at you with respect, and he still might be making fun of you, but you think that went well enough. Good job. Unless it wasn't a good job. In which case, bad job.

Kekoa looks back towards Cuicatl who you've totally been leaving out of this conversation. "Back at you: what are you into?"

Cuicatl doesn't respond. Instead, she keeps scratching the side of her vulpix's head. The pupper is lying on its side, back arced out and head pushing into its trainers hand as it gets pet. You can't blame her for ignoring the question. That fox is definitely better than Kekoa.

"Earth to Kiwi?" Kekoa says.

That does get her attention. "Sorry. Don't see body language." She, um, she really doesn't have to apologize for that. "Mostly school, homework, and chores. I took care of the family's pokémon, cooked most nights, had some weaving to do… that took up a lot of time. Listened to pro battles. Tried to get my brother to read me _Battler_ issues when the library got them. Watched a fair bit of TV, but I doubt we watched the same shows."

Kekoa groans. "Telenovelas?"

She flashes her sly half-smile again and nods. "Yeah. Learned most of my Spanish from them… they're, well I won't actually defend them. He'd kill me for saying it, but my brother liked them more than I did. Used me for cover."

You laugh. Wait were you supposed to laugh? Kekoa does too, a little, but maybe you went too long even if it was appropriate. Now you've not only insulted the blind girl but probably made her think you're. Well, what would she think? It's probably fine.

"So, favorite trainer?" Kekoa asks.

"Chirlov. Also Iris, but Chirlov came to Tenochtitlan once and I got my dad to take me so Chirlov wins."

"Hmph. Didn't take you for a dragon fangirl."

Cuicatl tilts her head and then brushes the hair out of her face. Even though she shouldn't need to. "And why is that?"

"Because your starter is an ice-type mammal."

"Oh." She kicks one leg into her other ankle. Looked kind of hard, too. "Yeah, that's a good reason."

Kekoa glances at you for a second. Is that an invitation to talk? No. He turns back to Cuicatl. What was that about?

"What brings you to Alola, then?"

"My mom did her challenge in Unova. Did pretty well. Went pro for a little bit. I applied to do one there. They were full so I got assigned to Alola instead. Thought I could make more money here than at home, so I came."

She is legal, then? Or she's embarrassed and lying about it.

Kekoa just laughs. Longer and louder than his last few, and a little more mean spirited. "Sis, you wanted to make money so you _came to Alola?_ You know how much things cost on islands, right?"

Cuicatl frowns and looks (well, not looks) into her lap. "I didn't. Now I do."

Your eyes flick back and forth between Kekoa and Cuicatl. She's sad, he's a butt, and for some reason it falls on you to fix this situation.

"What do you all want to do for the rest of the day?" you ask.

"Just got back from some battles," Kekoa says. "My pikipek's at the center now, but once she's healed up I'll probably battle some more. Rest of the week is supposed to be hot as shit, so might as well get it done now."

Cuicatl's vulpix starts whining at that until its trainer starts petting it.

"It's okay. We can just train at dusk and dawn and stay inside the rest of the day."

"Dusk and dawn are also gonna be hot as shit," Kekoa says.

The vulpix starts whining again as Cuicatl's face scrunches up.

Okay. Another crisis. You can handle this.

"You want to study together, then?"

"Going for my Class III this week. Pretty damn confident I'll get it," Kekoa says.

You look towards Cuicatl. "You want to? Study?"

"I, um, Miss Bell assigned me a tutor since I don't need to learn much, just local pokémon and laws. I know the general care things. And she doesn't have braille books and audiobooks are slow."

"Who the fuck is Miss Bell?" Kekoa asks.

Cuicatl turns to him and… ugh hard to read her face. Eyes are the windows to the soul and hers are frosted over. "Miss Bell runs this building. She gave me Pixie."

He whistles. "Already brownnosing the bigwigs, huh?"

She shifts and folds in on herself. "We had shared interests."

"Like?" Kekoa asks.

Cuicatl opens her mouth as if to speak, but then clamps it shut and resumes petting her vulpix. "Like foxes," she says.

"Uh huh."

"SO, you wanna battle now?" Ugh. Too loud at the start. Probably sounded desperate. Which you are. There shouldn't be this many almost fights this early on.

Kekoa shrugs and bends over to pick something off the round desk thing in the center of the room. Envelope. How had you missed that? With an unnecessary amount of care, pomp, and circumstance he takes the letter out and unfolds it.

* * *

"Mission One: Akala. Drop-off point: Heahea Beach. Pick-up point: North Shores. Be ready at 5:00 A.M. October 8, 2019. Pick-up will be November 5. Time TBA. Capture targets: Five (5) paras per person. $20 apiece. One (1) castform total. $500."

* * *

Well. That gives you six days to prepare. And there were the $300 signing bonuses in the envelope for supplies. Kekoa slides the letter back into the envelope. "Well, we can deal with that later. Jenny, you said you wanted a battle?"

* * *

Kekoa clears his throat. "The battle between Kiwi of Anahuac and Jennifer of Galar is about to begin. Both parties will release their pokémon simultaneously upon the count of three. One, three. Go."

"Pixie, take the field," Cuicatl says. Her vulpix leaps from her side onto the sand, kicking up a cloud of dust in the process. The pupper's eyes go wide and she immediately starts trying to shake some of the dust out of her coat.

"Sir Bubbles, let's go!" you shout before releasing your adorable poliwag into the arena. He bounces up a few times before turning around to beg with his big, wet eyes. "No food now. Battle time."

The froggo makes sure you see a few tears fall before he turns back around.

"Let the record show that neither trainer should never be allowed to name a pokémon again," Kekoa says. It gets a few snickers from the handful of trainers on the bleachers. "Okay, go whenever."

"Ice Shard." Cuicatl wastes no time getting her order in, and her doggo wastes even less firing the attack. There's a cloud of white around her and then crystals are flying out and hit Sir Bubbles bang bang bang. Or, well, plop plop plop. Your amphibian boi doesn't seem too torn up, literally or metaphorically.

Oh. Orders. You should give orders. Well, he only knows two moves so um

"Hypnosis!" you exclaim.

"Ice Shard, down."

Sir Bubbles stands as tall as he can on his stubby little legs and does some things that you can't see because you're standing behind him. But basically his belly starts to spiral and—the ice pupper just fired a bunch of ice at the ground and there's a big dust cloud in front of it. You can hear its exaggerated coughs, but you can't see it anymore.

Huh. Good play.

"More ice shards towards poliwag. Low angle."

There's a brief pause before another volley shoots through the dust cloud, some striking poliwag and bouncing off but just as many kicking up dirt when they miss. One even comes, like, six inches from your leg and you don't even realize it happens until it's happened.

"Try to keep things in the arena, Kiwi," Kekoa reprimands.

"Trying!"

Crap you almost got hit by a pokémon attack. That would've _hurt._ Probably. It doesn't seem to hurt Sir Bubbles very much. But he's a pokémon and they can take that kind of thing. Unless you overfeed them, which you didn't do to your brother's goldeen, whatever he says.

"Another volley," Cuicatl orders. Reminding you that you should—more ice blasts out of the steadily settling dust cloud and one shard hits right in front of your shoe before breaking into little bits and making your leg cold—order. You should order again.

"Water gun!"

Sir Bubbles inhales and puffs up. For a moment he stays that way, before he abruptly recompresses and a jet of water hits vulpix right in the face. The iceboi blinks a few times and then growls before charging in, ice shards flying off of it as it moves.

"Pix! Last orders hold."

Wait. Oh man. This is an opening!

"Hypnosis," you practically sing.

Your froggo perks up on his hind legs again, but this time the fox is staring right at his belly. The ice shards stop coming as the doggo slows to a walk, and then a crawl. And then she finally falls down on her face right at Sir Bubble's feet.

"Now water gun!"

The holy vulpix gets absolutely drenched for thirty seconds straight but never seems to stir.

"Pixie, please get up," Cuicatl pleads. But her pokémon doesn't and eventually Kekoa whistles and holds up a hand.

"I'm going to call it here. Jennifer wins."

"Yessssssssssss!" you yell, rushing the battlefield to. Wait, no. Can't hug amphibian friends. Have to settle for kneeling down and telling Sir Bubbles what a good Sir Bubbles he is before withdrawing him, promising food towards bedtime. Your bedtime. He's nocturnal so you leave him in the Center's freshwater pool at night so he can play with other frog and fish friends.

Kekoa walks past shortly after both pokémon are withdrawn. "Lunch time now. Then I'm going boot shopping. You can come with if you want."

* * *

Lunch is quiet. Cuicatl seems lost in her own world, and you aren't sure you want to start a conversation if it's just going to be you and Kekoa in it. The center is serving stir fry and you think it's pretty good. Cuicatl got the spam stir fry and barely ate half of hers, though. Which is weird. You liked spam back when you ate meat. But maybe it's an acquired taste.

* * *

Princess Square Mall is easily the best place to shop in the entire commonwealth. It's got everything from the Gracidea flagship to the usual big box stores, plus actual miles of halls lined with their own quirky shops. You make… made a point of coming here most weekends to try and look through at least three new ones knowing full well that by the time you visited them all some would've closed and others opened in their place and you'd have to do it again. You got some good stuff out of it, though, like a stuffed altitlama made with real altitlama wool and a blue snow globe with a faintly glowing horseshoe on the side. No idea why the latter cost as much as it did.

Kekoa powerwalks ahead and ordinarily you'd match him but you have to stay back and help Cuicatl along. He sometimes glances back and slows down a little bit, which clashes with his aloof meanie vibe. Eventually you get to Shaft's Outdoor Supplies and Kekoa finally stops to turn towards you.

"I'm just going to go ahead and get this done on my own. Leave you girls to do your shoe shopping."

"Then why are you going alone?" Cuicatl asks.

"Don't you people all have super hearing? Letting you two have your estrogen party in peace."

"So why aren't you coming with us? If it's a girls thing…"

Kekoa shoots her an absolutely murderous glare. "I'm flipping you off," he says before turning around and storming off. Cuicatl just has a cute, dumb smile plastered on her face.

"Asshole," she says.

You shouldn't giggle but you do.

"So, um, what are you looking for? In boots?"

She doesn't even take a full second to think it over. "Waterproof, well-fitting, don't make me look too stupid."

Okay. You can work with that.

You piece together her style in your head. She said she mostly wears dresses, sometimes more athletic clothing. And she said that she liked her hair long before she cut it. Hasn't worn much makeup, but that might just be because she can't apply it. In any case, definitely not a tomboy. Some outdoorsy-but-still-femme look. Hiking boots and whatever she'll be wearing on the trail probably satisfies the outdoorsy bit, so you're mostly concerned with the femme half. Ideally you'd get something dark green or very dark blue to go with her hair, but a quick talk with an employee (a talk that Cuicatl seems oddly despondent during) reveals that you're really color and style limited at her size in the kids section. You settle on a pink pair without laces so that she doesn't have to fumble around to tie them.

"They sound nice," she says when you tell her the description. Her face is guarded so it's hard to tell if it really does sound nice. Or if she cares about style at all. She rises up on the balls of her feet and then settles down and tilts her shoes to the sides. "Fit well enough. Should be fine after a little breaking in."

And that's that. Even before the two-thirds discount new trainers get on supplies, hers are just barely over fifty dollars. Yours are about twice as much, but after the discount they still fit within budget with some money left over. Black, kind of shiny, waterproof because Cuicatl thought that was a big deal. You'd be comfortable wearing yours in a city, which is kind of a must because you're going to have to break them in before going out on the trail. Orientation made a very, very big deal about that, up to showing some blister photos that look like they came right out of a sex ed presentation on some disease that requires genital amputation.

* * *

Kekoa fiddles with the screen for a second before putting it on the pile of stuff he haphazardly threw together. Then the movie starts to play on the small screen. Not really big enough for three people to crowd around, but Cuicatl's sitting a little farther away with her vulpix curled up on her lap. She doesn't really need to watch.

"You have your own account?" you ask to kill time as the company logos roll.

He snorts. "Yeah, no. I'm sure someone pays for this, but I don't know them and no one I know knows them."

Oh. That's kind of theft, isn't it? At least, not using it as intended.

The logos stop and the screen shifts to a cage being moved in the rain by a bunch of men with guns. Then something goes wrong and the thing in the cage kills some of the men with guns before getting shot itself.

"What kind of movie is this?" you ask.

"A damn good one," he answers.

"Seconding," she adds.

You frown. "Your parents let you watch this kind of thing?"

He looks at you like you'd just asked whether water was wet. "No. My brother let me watch it once while my parents were out since I was going through a dinosaur phase. Now, I, uh, kind of watch what I want now."

"People don't really care about sex and violence in movies in Anahuac? They're a part of life. No reason to keep kids from knowing real things exist. And do you want to talk about the dinosaur phase?" She's absolutely beaming now. "Because I had a dinosaur phase. Never really left it either."

The fox hisses and she immediately reaches down to pet her. "I am also in a fox phase. You can have two phases at once."

Kekoa snorts. "You would, dragon girl."

"It's not my fault that we used to have birds that were six meters tall, then we didn't, then _we brought them back_, and now no one seems to care that _we have six meter tall birds again_! Oh, Genesis, the dinosaurs in this movie shouldn't have as many scales as they do. Except the aurorus, which should have spines and frills. But the dilatosaur shouldn't have frills. Or venom. They were grass-types. And the pyroclaptors should be half the size. And none of them are actually from the Jurassic. Other than that, perfect film."

Kekoa leans forward and makes a show of turning the volume up, even though it's already as high as it goes.

"Fucking nerd."

She folds her arms and leans back into the wall. "I don't see what the problem is with liking things. Especially cool things."

"Well, you missed the flaw that actually matters: tyrantrum were scavengers."

"You shut up!" Cuicatl practically screams. "That is _one_ scientist's theory based on snorlax of all things. Sure, tyrantrum c_ould_ have scared off smaller predators, but then why would they need the neck muscles if they weren't going to hunt? And what was killing all the prey they ate? Raptors weren't big enough in most of their home range and the crocodiles would've just dragged the food into the water. Maybe other tyrannosaurs, but if smaller tyrannosaurs were killing giant armored herbivores _then why couldn't tyrantrum do it?" _She huffs and crosses her legs before glaring in Kekoa's general direction. "Such bullshit."

They continue like that for hour, with Kekoa asking short dumb questions and setting Cuicatl off on adorably angry tirades about tyrantrum's typing (maybe a dragon-_type_, but definitely not a dragon), tyrantrum-pyroclaptor nest arrangements (the raptors didn't eat the tyrantrum eggs, they ate the mammals that came for the eggs, duh), and whether blaziken would beat a pyroclaptor in a fight (blaziken one-on-one, but a pyroclaptor would never fight alone so that doesn't matter). He immediately changes the subject whenever she gives a substantive answer, so he's always winning the conversation with very little effort. Like Mom. Except Cuicatl doesn't seem to hate it?

You fall asleep before the movie actually ends. You don't know if they ever stopped their bickering.


	4. Period

**Normal 1.4: Period  
**_Kekoa_

"Go, Whiskers!"

You don't say anything as you send Hekili onto the field. What's the point? She knows her name and what's about to happen.

"Now, Fake Out!" Just as you see what "Whiskers" is doing a shockwave ripples across the field and smacks Hekili head-on. "Great! Get in close and bite the wing!"

"Retreating peck," you calmly answer.

The meowth rushes across the field but it's too slow. By the time that he reaches your pikipek she's already in the air and gives the cat a nasty peck on the head for its trouble. A few wingbeats later she's up in the air circling the field.

Perfect.

"Echoed voice."

The air around you ripples, first towards Hekili and then away. It's barely noticeable but you know that'll change soon enough.

"Hey! No fair, that's cheating!"

You glare at the kid. Some young haole brat. He ever heard "no" before? What does "fair" mean to him? The deck stacked in his favor, but subtly enough that he can deny it? Even odds must feel so unbearably _unfair. _And to top it all off you definitely aren't cheating. It's a perfectly valid, very common strategy that if he'd ever watched a damn match he would know he needed a counter for. But, nope, he's _entitled _to win, however little work he puts in.

"Louder, if you will," you respond. And Hekili answers with a cacophony of sound and a blast of wind. You definitely felt that one and from the meowth's disheveled fur you're guessing it felt it as well. "And keep it up."

"UGH!" The kid actually stomps his foot like it'll get you to roll over and give you what he wants. "Jump up and use scratch!"

The cat's legs bend down and it pounces ms one fluid motion. Before you can even order a spiking peck, Hekeli lifts up and the claws only hit feathers. She knows what "up" means, even when other people say it. Clever girl.

Unless the kid's pulling a spectacular con on you, that's about as much thought as you're going to have to put into this. Meowth are frail and devastating up close but if it can't get a hit in and doesn't have any projectiles (and you really doubt it has projectiles) then eventually it will go down to echoed voice. Battle's over even if he doesn't want to admit it yet. And you hope he doesn't concede until the bitter end. You want to see him crushed until he cries for his mommy. Keep people off the trails who don't need to be there.

"Fake Out!"

"Steady."

Meowth sends off another shockwave, but by now the echoed voices are hitting it five times harder than anything it could send off. The blast wasn't even powerful enough to disrupt Hekili. You look up in admiration. Your starter's getting pretty big now. Almost the meowth's size. And her echoed voice has more sounds in it, more little ripples that draw a little more power in and send a little more out. Not quite ready to evolve but she's made progress.

"Work up! We can do this!"

Hmm. The meowth is gathering a little double helix of rising energy around itself. Give it a minute or two and it'll probably be strong and fast enough to get hits in on Hekili. But that gives you a minute or two to think. The cat's battered and it flinches a little bit more with every burst of sound and air. By the time it can land a hit the match might be almost over. Persian are glass cannons so you imagine meowth are too. You could rush in with a rock smash, disrupt the charging, and maybe score a knockout at the same time. But if you fail, well, then you're in close quarters. Exactly where you shouldn't be.

You'll give it a little bit. Then go in for the kill.

In the meantime, you take a quick glance at the adjacent battlefield to see how Kiwi's doing. Her vulpix against a pyukumu. The fox is firing off volleys of ice shards at the water-type but it barely even seems to notice. Weak, resisted ice attacks against a bulky water 'mon? It won't be nearly enough.

"Rock smash," you call without even bothering to look back at the field.

"Now's our chance! Whiskers, use—"

There's a _crack_ sound as Hekeli's beak collides right with the meowth's face and the cat is flung back onto its ass. You almost feel bad for it. Not its fault that its trainer gives pep talks in a do or die situation. A flash of light washes over the field. You compliment it with your own withdrawal. Hekeli can be thanked later; for now you have an image to project.

"You owe me six bucks."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," the kid huffs as he crosses the field. You hold out your hand and he slaps the bills into it. "Someday, I'm going to fight you again and I'm going to win." He looks at you with an intense gleaming in his eyes, like he not only believes his words are true but _knows_ they are.

You turn away from him and walk towards Kiwi's battlefield. "I'll take more of your money any time you want."

Your match was a one-sided slugfest decided in a nonstop barrage of sound and one good peck to the noggin. Kiwi's is decidedly more stallish. Her keokeo has the faint purple aura of toxic poisoning around it, which means that Kiwi's opponent bought or borrowed the TM at some point. The fox is panting from poison and heat and maybe exhaustion. The pyukumuku has some shallow cuts in its mucus from the ice shards but nothing managed to get past the outer layers. Not surprising. Those things are damn hard to hurt. You get your first glance at the pyukumuku's trainer. She's female. Asian. Her dress looks expensive, she's wearing shades that obviously aren't the cheap kind, and you think she's got a designer purse. Not that you'd be able to tell the brand or anything, but it looks like something you'd see on TV. Add in the TM and, well, honestly you're just shocked that a rich bitch uses a pyukumuku of all things. Good taste in pokémon in spite of everything. Rather have her along than Jennifer.

"Ice shard," Kiwi calls just a little too loudly. You don't think she's deaf and her fox has damn good hearing. Not that you're going to just offer that advice up freely. If she's smart she'll figure it out on her own.

A barrage of ice rises up around the keokeo and flies towards its opponent. The pyukumuku takes it like a champ, and its trainer's self-satisfied smirk deepens. Fuck her. She's an asshole like you, but she's not actually justified in her assholery.

"Spite," she says. In the same calm "I already know I'm going to win" voice you'd been using three minutes ago.

"Now," Kiwi commands with the exact same tone.

Once the ice shard volley lands, pyukumuku's mouth opens and its tongue comes out to flip the fox off. Just when its innards are out a dozen sharp ice crystals come out of nowhere to impale themselves in its tongue. The water-type bloats up for a second, its entire body growing a little bit bigger before it hastily pulls everything back inside.

That had to have done more damage than the pyukumuku had taken in the rest of the battle combined and it took some skill and deception to pull off. It was a good play. Doesn't matter. So long as the pyukumuku never inverts itself again there's nothing Kiwi can do. Eventually her pokémon will go down to poison or spite, which you didn't even know pyukumuku could learn. And it was a 'mon you were hoping to pick up later on, so you'd think you'd know what it can and can't do.

"Kiwi, you might want to spare your fox some pain," you tell her. She recoils, either from hearing your voice unexpectedly or the weight of your words. But she slowly nods her head in agreement.

"Good job, Pixie." Two flashes of red cross the battlefield. The pyukumuku's trainer crosses the field, smirking the whole time.

"And that'll be six dollars, if you'd be so kind," she says with the kind of over-affected false innocence you'd never been able to get away with. Kiwi doesn't react, just pulling the money out (how does she know which bills are which?) and handing it over. "Thank you kindly, miss," the girl says before sauntering off.

You're about to call after her to ask for a battle of your own when you feel something shift, bringing your mood plummeting down with it.

"Let's go," you say through gritted teeth.

* * *

"How'd it go?" Jennifer asks as the door opens and Kiwi shuffles in. Jenny's still in her pajamas and rubbing sleep out of her eyes. Probably a good thing because otherwise she'd probably be goddamn _chipper_.

"Fine," you grunt. Kiwi just slides into her bed before spreading out on top of the sheets.

"Okay, well, um, if you don't need it I'm going to get ready in the bathroom?"

Neither of you answers so she rummages through her bag and picks out some things before stopping by the closet to take a top out. She closes the washroom door behind her.

It's not too bad yet. Soon you'll need to lie down for at least a day but for now you can awkwardly stand in the middle of the room. You glance at Kiwi. Worth talking? Nah. You can wait a few minutes and call someone you actually like. Not that she's that bad. Maybe someday you'll like her. But that day wasn't yesterday and it sure as shit isn't today.

By the grace of the tapus Jennifer doesn't take a shower. Instead she shuffles out after a time that feels both too long and too short, makeup and hair immaculate and sleep either gone or hidden, and wearing a t-shirt and jeans that somehow look like they cost more than everything in your bag combined.

"Alright. You ready to go?"

Kiwi rises and picks up her cane without a word.

"I'm staying," you say.

"Tutor's free," Kiwi says.

"And I don't need it."

Jennifer looks at you funny before you dismissively wave her away. Less than a minute later you're blissfully, finally, totally alone.

You go into the bathroom and let your pants drop before looking down. No stains. Pad's still holding for now. You'd wondered if it wasn't coming even though deep down you knew damn well it was gearing up. So you hoped for the best, planned for the worst. And the worst came. You don't know how long you stand there staring down at your too-flat boxers before your gaze lifts to the mirror.

_Turn around_. You don't. You should but fuck you you're a hormonal bitch and you keep looking. There's a curve under your shirt. You love your binder more than any single thing you own but you're big and there's only so much a piece of fabric can do. Below that, well, your torso curves in before your hips flare out and none of it makes you any less of a man but dammit some part of you feels ridiculous even asserting that _you_ could ever be male with your body as it is. And you know your voice is still higher than Mina on 4/20. Kiwi said as much. Her world is sound and people are voices and your voice is female so you are too. And. She. Just. Can. Not. Stop. Rubbing. It. In. Your. Cute. Rounded. Face.

You turn around without thinking and leave the bathroom. Then you slide into bed and fold half of a messed up sheet over your body. You can still see your fucking tiny toes so you have to actually push yourself up a little to get everything covered up by a blanket. Except for the little bulge on your chest that still perks the fabric up, reminding you that it's there and will be until you're eighteen and have real money in your wallet. There's a phantom pain in your arms and legs like something under your skin is trying to press out but it can't and you can massage it or hit it or scream or cry or try to ignore it but it will never, ever come out. Never, ever stop.

It gets better. It's getting better. In three days there's another shot and then another a week after that and on and on forever. This could be your last period. And your voice is going to change and you'll have hair and smell different and have almost everything you need to be you. But there's nothing you can do about that right now. Just lie here and pray that your body turns out okay. It feels like you should be doing something even if you know there's nothing to be done.

You reach for your phone and unlock it without looking. Best to not stare into the black screen for a second because that second seldom stays as just a second You raise up the phone and move it to your contacts; your finger hovers over the button before you will it to press down.

It rings twice. You take the time to put it on speaker and let it fall back down beside you.

"Mohn Ciel Memorial Home. How may I assist you today?"

"Alola," you say. "It's…"

"Allana! Didn't expect to hear from you so soon!"

You swallow. Do you have the energy to spare today?

No. No you don't.

"Had a moment. Thought I'd drop in on Manollo."

"Of course, of course. He's probably still asleep. I'll have to go wake him up. Oh! And before I go, can I let people call you at this number?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Okay, one sec."

You half-smile in spite of everything. There's no way in hell Manollo is up at this time on a Saturday morning and it feels a little good to force him up. You bet no one does that to him anymore. It would be a shame if he forgot what it felt like.

A few minutes later, there's a shuffling sound on the other end.

"Fuck you, asshole."

You smirk. Hard to say that was unexpected "Isn't Elizabeth right there?"

"Yeah. It's why…" He yawns. Loudly. "It's why I toned that down from what I wanted to say." He yawns again. "Two weeks and you're already giving up, huh?"

"You wish."

"Yeah, guess I do. It's boring without you around."

"Take it my replacement is no match for the real deal?"

He scoffs. "Dude, she's some ten-year-old girl. Barely spoken to anyone since she came here. Just sits in the library and reads."

"Oh, you poor soul. Fifteen whole days with no one kicking your ass at Double Dash. Bet your ego's flying with the minior."

He laughs. "Yeah, well, think I'll live. Enough about me; you're the one on a journey. Details, now."

"Fine, sure, whatever. I caught a pikipek. She's pretty strong, starting to talk more. Maybe a month or two from evolution. Don't know what the first trial is yet. I'll let you know when I know. Have two teammates. Both girls, about my age."

"That a gender thing?" Manollo asks. "Sticking you with other 'girls'?"

You pause. That hadn't actually occurred to you. Neither knew your dead name so VStar isn't too incompetent. But is that why Kiwi thinks you're a girl? Does she know exactly what she's doing and fucking revels in it? Maybe. Maybe not. Probably not.

Fuck you hope not.

"Hey, my man, you still there?"

You cough. A high pitched cough. Shit time to plow on.

"There weren't that many people my age in the group, most of them female. Probably just luck of the draw. Neither's Kanaka maoli. One's Aztec. Name's 'Kwikit' or something. She's smart enough, into battling, probably not a total bitch. But she keeps misgendering me every chance she gets."

"Kick her ass," he says, dead serious. "That'll shut her up."

"Manollo, she's blind and only comes up to my chin. I'd feel bad about it."

"You shouldn't. She hurts you, you hurt her harder and she'll stop. Law of the jungle."

You don't answer. For a few seconds you only hear your heart beating. Then the cramps flare up and you need to get distraction words out.

"I'll think about it. Other girl is haole. Probably rich as fuck. Guess? She's some free spirit out to pursue her _passions_ but her mean daddy thinks she should do something _practical_ so he cut her the fuck off. And now she's convinced she's suffering every injustice in the world. I'm trying not to piss her off too badly because we're going to be stuck together but at some point she's going to say the wrong thing and I'm going to snap at her and she'll snap at me and that'll be it. Good riddance."

Manollo snickers. "Sounds like you've got your whole plan worked out. Still set on your final team?"

"Hmm. Reconsidering. The Aztec bitch has a keokeo and I don't want to double up."

"Holy shit." There's the sound of movement on the other side as the phone shifts. "How'd she get that?"

"Rich haole running the place gave it to her. Probably a pity thing since, y'know, blind. Still doesn't feel right."

"Yeah," he says. "It doesn't."

Keokeo are the watchful guardians of Lanakila and the guides of the dead and dying. They were worshipped as gods in their own right for centuries. Still are by some people. Probably just another dog breed to her.

"Toucannon and hariyama are givens. At least one dark-type for maximum bat slaying. Still not sure which one I'll go with. Rethinking the rest."

Two forces pull throughout the call. The first is positive: the conversation flows on its own accord through a thousand subjects, each further off topic than the last. Because the only real thing to be discussed is in the subtext. For a moment you feel like you're back at the closest thing to home you've had since elementary school. And the other force, well, that builds every time your voices echoes on the other end and you hear just what you send like to everyone else. That brings the phantom pain to your throat and head until eventually everything is throbbing and you want to cry but you know that would just make you sound like a scared little girl. Eventually, the second half wins when a phone alarm tells you that your pad needs changed.

You hang up with a mixture of relief and sadness with one thought rising above both: this had better be the last time you have to deal with this shit.

* * *

"You may begin."

The sound of rustling papers fills the room before abruptly dying out.

Class III. Let's see if this is more of a challenge than Class II or Class I.

Rank the following ten pokéballs based on the quality of life they would give a misdreavus. Awkward wording aside, that's dusk at the top and dive at the bottom. Wonder if some poor kid believes that luxury balls are always the answer. Or gets caught up in wondering if misdreavus are made of water (they aren't… right… no, not second guessing yourself).

Briefly describe the laws around vikavolt capture and sale. That's easy enough. Buggers are nearly extinct in the wild due to overcapture so they let trainers capture one but only sell it if they actually complete the entire challenge.

Which of the following are True Psychics? Hypno and mr. mime. Alakazam is the trick answer.

On and on. How do you treat hyperthermia in ice-types? What islands do these pokémon live on? What happens if a z-move hits a mega evolved pokémon? Briefly explain how oricorio form changes work. Which of the following are invasive? How do you get a pokémon registered as a ride pokémon? Some of its practical, most of it isn't. Just meant to make sure you know a few things about a lot of pokémon. That you actually care about this shit.

You're the first to finish. Out of the 100 questions there are maybe six you're uncertain on. You can miss twenty and still pass.

All in all? Good day.

You step outside and see Kiwi on the bench. Why did she show up? Special needs tests aren't until tomorrow. You consider just slipping past her and being on your way. She'll probably just give up and go home eventually and you really aren't in the mood to get misgendered now. Not when you're coming down from the high of probably victory.

She stretches and stands up. Her keokeo stirs beside her. "This Room 202?" she asks.

Shit. No dodging this one. "Yes, Kiwi."

A frown flashes across her face before quickly fading. "Well, how'd it go?"

"Fine." You start walking down the hall. She follows.

"I went back to Lilypad Square today. I won."

You glance down at her. She seems very proud of that. Is that her first win ever? "Against what?" you ask.

"Rattata."

You snort. "Wait, was it held by some preschooler or something?"

She purses her lips and looks away as her footsteps slow down for a moment. You keep plowing on.

"She sounded young. I don't know how young. Ten to twelve?"

Holy shit. You have to try really hard not to laugh. Girl beats up some kid's pet mouse and feels on top of the fucking world.

She doesn't say anything else to you on the way back to the Center.

* * *

"We should celebrate," Jennifer says.

"No money," you answer.

She honest to gods puts her hands on her hips and pouts. "Don't need money to go to the beach."

"No swimsuit," Kiwi answers.

"Same."

You do have one. But other people seeing your body is bleck. Even if you weren't trying (and sort of failing) to go stealth.

"Well, what else are you going to do?"

"Movies. Inside. Where it's not hot as shit."

"Chirlov's battling. There will be a radio broadcast. In Galaran."

"Oh, come on!" Jennifer huffs. "It doesn't feel like we've even done anything fun together. Can't we just do one thing?"

Ugh. Fine. Maybe this will get her off your back.

"I'll go, but I'm not getting in the water."

"Great! Cuicatl?"

She groans. " Whatever. But I'm staying on land with Kekoa."

Jennifer claps her hands and you see Kiwi flinch in your peripheral vision.

* * *

"You sure you don't want to come in with me?" Kiwi shakes her head. You don't respond at all. "Come on, Kekoa, you're just wearing shorts and a t-shirt. Nothing that can't get wet."

Also wearing a binder. And you'd really prefer not to have your clothing vacuum-sealed and showing all your curves to the world.

"I'll pass."

"Hmph. Whatever." Jennifer turns around and slips her shorts and shirt off, leaving her much more revealing swimsuit behind. She turns around and kicks the shorts towards the bench you're sharing with Kiwi.

For a moment you're facing her head on and, ah shit she's hot. Like you kind of always knew that from the legs and general face but seeing her _exposed_ makes all the things click. She throws the t-shirt at you, although it flies a little bit to the side. "Don't be gross." With that she pivots and walks towards the surf.

Kiwi leans back into the bench and crosses her legs. "What's she like, scale of one to ten?"

"Eight."

She snorts. "Can't tell if she'd be more insulted that you answered or that you ranked her so low."

"I have very high standards," you respond. As deadpan as possible. Well. She kind of is. Tall and femme. But you like some substance under the surace.

That just earns a wicked smirk. "Really, then? So what am I on your scale?"

She's not ugly. Her hair is nice. The rest is uh. Too short to pull off anything other than cute, and some of her features aren't really cute enough for cute-cute or ugly enough for ugly-cute. A couple lighter lines on her skin from old scars, eyebrows that are a little too heavy, a gauntness over everything that brings her muscles into contrast but makes her face look really sharp.

"Four."

She very lightly punches you. Probably aiming for the shoulder, hits near your elbow instead.

"Well, my voice is a ten and that's all that matters."

"Really? Well, what's my voice?"

"Hmm. Three. Too manly for a girl."

That sends a stone straight into the center of your feelings. The emotions ripple to the edge of your heart and rebound in and pretty soon there are ripples clashing with ripples as the whole thing threatens to spill over. Into… into what you don't know. But a lot of something.

She moves on before you can find out. "Very windy today."

You grunt to test the waters. No emotion bleeds through. It's safe to speak.

"That's just the sea breeze."

"Hmm?"

You sigh. Is this a cultural thing or no? And should you tell her if it is? Ah, fuck it. She could figure it out online in a minute.

"Wind rushes onshore in the day, offshore at night."

"Huh."

There's silence aside from the wind. Jennifer is out there somewhere but you can't really pick her out in the offshore crowd. As your eyes scan they settle on something else down the beach. A metal framework with the first semblances of a proper building being grafted on. Another resort to bring more tourists and take your kingdom just a little bit further away.

"Didn't grow up near the sea, I take it."

"No. Foothills of the mountains. Never been to the ocean until last week."

Oh. That's depressing. Being cut off from the water. Although her people are more desert and lake dwellers so maybe it didn't even matter to her.

She doesn't talk for long enough that you suspect that she's probably drifted off. Not a bad place to do it, on the beach with the tropical sun beating down. You're thinking about dozing off yourself. And then out of the blue: "We've never battled."

You glance over at her. She's sort of half-lying on her side, facing you.

"Because you have type advantage. Wouldn't be fair."

"Yeah, well, you don't suck at this. So maybe it would be."

You think about correcting her. But fuck it you aren't going to pump up her ego for her. She can beat up rattata if she needs the boost. You press yourself up and put your hands in your pockets.

"Okay. You're on. There's a battlefield near the surf, looks like that match is about to finish up."

* * *

"The one-on-one battle between Kekoa of Ak/ala," the kid you roped into announcing has an awful voice break and stands looking stunned for a sec before he decides to power through, "and Kiwi of Anahuac is about to begin. You can, um, I don't really… send out now?"

Someone's going to need to teach this kid confidence but it's not going to be you.

Kiwi actually has to release her keokeo from its pokéball. Guess the beach is too hot for an ice-type. Her loss.

"Pixie, battle time!"

The fox growls as soon as she materializes, ears slicked back and tails pressed down. Does she do that _every_ time she comes out? You've seen her actually use the ball so little that you honestly can't say.

You toss your ball into the air and catch it. When you release this is all going to go to hell and you need a moment to think.

Toss. Catch. No time to set up hyper voice. You'd just get knocked out of the sky by ice shards eventually.

Toss. Catch. She doesn't seem to have anything to hit up close. Just roar for zoning.

Toss. Catch. Hekeli's fast enough that roar doesn't matter. No reason not to get in close and never let up.

Toss. Catc—shit. The ball slips right off the edge of your finger and crashes into the sand. Kiwi smiles. "You going to keep me waiting?"

No. You reach down, flick the ball into the air and catch it before releasing. Need to practice that more. Hekeli materializes and seems to get what's going on pretty quickly. You glance at the referee and glare to wipe the smile off his face.

"And, uh, begin."

"Up," you command. Hekili rises higher as a blast of ice crystals flies right beneath her.

Kiwi's face is inscrutable. Maybe she doesn't even know if that hit or missed. "Baby-doll eyes."

Weird choice but Holy shit that is the cutest fucking fox you've ever seen. Were her eyes always that big? Like, does she physically make her eyes bigger or is

Shit closing window of attack.

"HEKILI, ROCK SMASH!" you shout. The pikipek quickly snaps out of the trance she was in before cawing and diving straight down. Kiwi starts to speak and a small flurry of ice rises around vulpix in the fraction of a second Hekili needs to descend. It doesn't matter. There's a _crack_ in the air for a moment before a very cute fox with very big eyes is flung up herself. You whistle and Hekili moves. When the vulpix finally comes to earth and stops rolling through the sand it gets another nasty peck on its side. Sometimes there are shouted orders and little glimmers of ice form and sometimes they dig into Hekeli's side. It doesn't matter. Too much damage too quickly for the vulpix to cope with.

Kiwi had the better part a week and she hasn't even figured out how to counter your pikipek? What a fucking loser.

A red flash shines on your smirk. After it fades Kiwi just stands still as a wave crashes into the beach. And another. And another. Then she starts walking across the field towards you as her hand slips into her purse. She drops two bills as she walks by you but she doesn't stop. You watch her walk up the beach without any words spoken.

For a moment you want to follow, tell her that it's alright and she's a special snowflake just like everyone else. Then there's anger. She's just doing this for pity points, to make you feel bad that you won. Fuck her. Manipulate bitch. Using her size and disability to take away your win from you and make you give her what she wants. Well, she's going to learn right here and now that emotionally abusive bullshit will get her nowhere. She wants a win? She can take it from you over Hekili's unconscious body.

You reach down to pick up the money before it blows away.


	5. Until The World Moves On

The chapter below deals with contemplation of suicide from a stream of consciousness perspective, with a second person narrator acting as the kind of thoughts that spur it on. I understand very, very much if you don't want to read it.

I will post a summary of this chapter at the start of the next one. I promise that after the relative brutality of 1.4 and 1.5, 1.6 is fairly happy. It contains a scene where a snow fox eats ice cream. Promise.

Additional content notices for discussion of an eating disorder and internalized ableism. And strong language, but that feels like an afterthought given everything else.

**Normal 1.5: Until The World Moves On  
**_Cuicatl Ichtaca_

Achcauhtli dismisses his friends and walks up to you.

{Hi.}

He sits down and you lean against him, letting your mind fully intertwine with his.

{Hi.}

There's more kept in his personal sphere than usual. Typically he lets you see about 70% of it, and you let him see almost 90% of yours (pretty much everything except for the feminine and romantic stuff that grosses him out a little). Now you can see maybe 40%.

{Something wrong?}

He groans, physically and mentally.

{Headache. Like yours.}

{Share?} you reply.

{No.}

You get to your feet and give him telepathic and physical kicks.

{You always take mine.}

{I always take one-third of yours. This is my first, so I will keep all of it. Owe you that much. And more.}

You roll your eyes. It took you forever to get that one _just_ right and he can't even see it now, but he probably knows that you're doing it. Either via telepathy or normal brotherly intuition. You shoot out a quick, compressed guide to migraine survival. He already knows all of it, of course. He's had one-third of a lot of migraines. It's more of a passive aggressive thing. You pain share, so can he.

He stands up and takes your elbow to guide you. You immediately recoil.

{You're really hot.}

{Am I?}

{Yes. Let me share.}

{No.}

You could force it. You're the stronger sibling by far because all that brain mass he wasted on vision went straight to your third eye. But you don't. It makes him really upset whenever you do and then the connection makes _you_ really upset and then it takes months for everything to get back to normal.

Also it's wrong and stuff.

{I'll tell Dad you're sick.}

He actually, physically snorts.

{I just have a fever and a headache. What's he going to do?}

Nothing. Nothing is what he'll do. So you shut up for a little bit, making sure that some of your displeasure bleeds into his mind for the rest of the walk.

You know you're almost at the house long before he tells you. But you let him chivalrously say that it's approaching and then let you in the door. He does it partially because of his annoying masculinity, partially to keep appearances, partially to ease his lingering anxiety from that one time that you took his sight away for two weeks to teach him a lesson. Gods, he was so adorably helpless.

"We're home," you call to the house so that he doesn't have to. Neck and jaw movements can sometimes be a pain and you don't know if this is one of those headaches because he won't show you.

{It is one of those headaches.}

{You're welcome.}

There's a fairly long pause.

"Cuicatl Ichtaca, are you still going out tonight?"

You turn towards your stubborn brother.

{Am I?}

{I'm fine. You can go.}

{Do you want me to stay?}

{I'm not going to pain share and I won't be good company.}

{We can talk. I can distract you.}

{You know I won't be in a talking mood.}

{But I will be.}

He gives you a mental shove. "She is."

"Okay. I have a box for heatmor by the door. Can you bring it out to her?"

"Of course," you say.

A few seconds later it's clear that's all you're going to get from Dad so you generously let your brother guide you to your shared room. He leaves you standing in the doorway, then stumbles forward and loudly crashes into his bed. Which probably doesn't help the headache.

He grumbles something incoherent aloud and you smile in spite of everything. On your way out the door you slip your mind out of his. With one final gesture you point towards your love for him and he belatedly points you towards his for you. Then you shut the door and walk back towards the front door. You find Searah's box easily enough by shuffling around near the doorway. You bend down and—ugh shit this is heavy—immediately set it back down. You take a few steps and open the door. Then you bend down again, properly brace yourself, and haul it up, ignoring the burning in your arms. Next it's a few awkward waddling steps out the door where the arm pain starts to nestle into your back. You're strong but you're small and even Dad might struggle with this one. At long last you can feel the sunlight on all of your body. You bend down and let the box go. Maybe ten centimeters higher than you should've given the crash. Oops.

"Alice! Dorothy! Ilsa!" you call. There's a familiar wingbeat and then warm, dry air rustles your smiling face. Ilsa cries out her greetings and you take a few steps forward for a hug. Ellas dutifully complies. Ellas is warm which reminds you of your stupid annoying overly macho twin brother. You grimace but quickly correct it into a smile. Alice is here. This is happy time. "I know girls, it's been too long."

Ten days, actually, which really isn't bad. Alice's territory is almost two hundred square kilometers so she can be gone for a while if food is scarce or she has a boundary dispute to attend to.

Alice grunts her agreement nonetheless. You slowly step back, making sure to stroke each head in the process. You point in the general direction of the package. "Mind carrying that for—"

There's a giant rush of wind that almost knocks you off your feet. A moment later you feel Alice's breathing beside you where the package should be. Ellas barks out a "yes."

"Good girls," you whisper as you extend a hand. One of the minor heads reaches out to nuzzle it. As you scratch the cheek you run your fingers across a ridge where the scales don't quite mesh right. Dorothy. "Now let's go out back to see your friends."

You gently wrap your hand around the base of Dorothy's head and start walking towards the gate to the back lot. Alice glides along, subtly pulling you away from a rock (that you knew was there) at one point. Then you get to the rusty old gate, open it up with an awful screech, and slip inside. Alice just slides out of your grip and floats over the fence. Her wings beat and stir the wind less often and with less power than you'd expect. However ellas stays airborne mechanical flight is only a small part of it. You've never been able to find out how that works in all of your reading and you've read everything the library could find on hydreigon so you're pretty sure if there was an answer you would've found it.

You close the gate and walk deeper into the lot. "Anyone here?"

Searah squeals and you hear her light, rapid footsteps as she races over. You brace yourself before she arrives and practically flings herself on you, standing on her hindlegs as her long clawed hands rest on your shoulders and her snout presses against your neck. "Hey girl," you say, before returning the hug. If Alice is warm, Searah is almost uncomfortably so. Comes with her typing. More importantly, she has a wonderful layer of thick fur just long enough to submerge your fingers in. "Brought you a toy."

She squeaks again, much closer this time, and the intent flashes into your head. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Searah lowers herself to the ground and shuffles towards the box, a steadily quieter string of Thank you!s echoing in your head. Then you hear her shred the cardboard followed by the faint sound of her tongue licking her food. Probably a durant carcass given the weight. There aren't any down here and heatmor are literally built to eat them. No shock that they're her favorite treat.

{Hello, child.}

This voice appears directly and exclusively in your mind. It's distinctly male and very deep and almost echoey. Not threatening just… comforting. Like a warm blanket of words. You could easily fall asleep listening to him (and have several times).

{Hello, Renfield.}

He doesn't physically embrace you. His body is _weird_. Squishy. He doesn't like being squished. Not that it hurts him. You're pretty sure that even Searah would struggle to burst him open. Alice, well, all bets are off there.

{Is your brother not here today?} he asks, even though he could easily just get that information from your mind. He taught you all of your tricks and he's way stronger than you are.

"Achcauhtli's sick," you respond. Aloud. So that Searah can hear as well. Not that she reacts. Her tongue is probably three feet deep in a giant ant right now.

{Unfortunate.}

Alice growls. Quiet and high, descending in volume and pitch at the end. Jealousy. She's the only one who doesn't instantly understand what you say, language barrier be damned. It takes you a second to come up with the words, though. Words that she'd understand. Sickness isn't really a thing that hydreigon deal with. Their only concept of it is in reference to prey. The same growl can mean very old, very young, sick, reckless, or disabled. Anything easy to kill. You replicate the growl (a little bit too high pitch but you can't really rumble like ellas can), followed up with your brother's name in human tongue.

She growls again. This time with a whine at the end from both minor heads.

"No, not like Danielle."

Alice snorts. Skepticism. Or a request for clarification. Or both.

"Not…" you gesture towards your tummy as you perform the hiss for child. Not pregnant, you mean. Not about to die and be replaced by two helpless infants.

She chuffs understanding.

{Did I do that right?} you ask Renfield.

{You would know better than I.}

{Okay.}

"Anyone else here?" you ask. There's a faint shifting in the dirt a few meters away followed by a metallic clang. The closest thing to a greeting that he ever does. And even that's unusually social for a ferrothorn. "Good to see you too, Spike." No answer. You weren't really expecting one.

{Charles and 'chovsky here?}

{No.}

Also not surprising. They stayed on the property after Mom died out of loyalty or convenience but they don't make a habit of being out back when you get home from school. You're a curiosity because you can talk to them like Mom did, but you aren't their trainer and never will be.

{Well, greet them for me.}

{I will do so.}

You take a step towards Alice and ellas swoops up to meet you. When you stand up on your tiptoes ellas presses right up against you and you can feel her low, constant growl of affection through the wall of her belly.

"Ready to go?" you ask.

She responds by yanking you up into the air and soaring off.

* * *

The nurse is quiet for way longer than they usually are. Fuck.

"Fought a pikipek, did you?" she finally asks.

"Yes."

"Did you catch the trainer's name? Or did you exchange bets electronically?"

"I… yeah. He's my traveling partner. How bad is it?"

She sighs. "She'll make a full recovery within twenty-four hours. Could've been much worse. Pikipek have a hard time controlling their attacks and I want to talk to the trainer before he gets an excessive force ticket."

You half-smile in spite of everything. Full recovery. You're a shitty trainer, but you didn't break anyone forever. Not this time.

"Can I have his name, please? Again, he's not going to get punished. Just talked to."

Heh. No need to worry. He wants people to rise and fall by their own hand, fine. He can take his own falls.

"Kekoa. I don't know his last name. He's about sixteen."

"Has he gone by this center?"

You nod. "He's staying here. Same room as me."

The nurse makes a few clicks and keystrokes.

"Okay. I'll talk with him tomorrow."

You lower your head and feel one foot pressing hard enough into the back of your leg that there will be a print for a few hours. Weird. Didn't even notice that you'd started. You press the shoe in a little harder and sigh.

"Take good care of her, please."

"I will," she says in a way that sounds like a smile. "I'll see you tomorrow."

You can't bring yourself to answer that. Only nod and turn around.

Hau'oli is a really friendly city for the blind. Much better than Tenochtitlan was. Every curb has the bumpy pavement to tell you to stop and all the crossing buttons have a voice telling you to wait or go.

You ignore it all. There's a wind on your face and you're going to walk towards it until you hit the ocean. If someone hits you, well, fuck it. At least your Dad gets some more money to piss away. And you do get honked at a few times or feel a rush of wind uncomfortably close to your body. At the busiest intersections you even stop until the nice robovoice tells you to go. If you get hit by chance then that's fate. You're fine leaving yourself to fate, to the gods. But you can't just walk into a car and let the gawkers see your limp body flung across the fucking street and run. That's not fate, that's a choice. Your choice. And there's no dignity in it.

Everything's numb. No, not numb. The opposite. You're feeling everything at once and your feelings haven't quite decided what to tell your brain. But there's definitely shame. Maybe anger. Fear? No, not fear. Not much anyway. Hunger, of course, because there's almost always hunger clawing at your insides and tempting you to give in, to break and stuff yourself and become even fatter and less loveable. But it's a numb pain right now, the kind that settles in after a couple hours.

By the time you can hear the waves over the cars, you've settled on a single thought.

This wasn't how things were supposed to go.

Your mom was a professional battler. You spent hundreds of hours listening to battles on the radio and hundreds more ignoring lectures and daydreaming about teams and routes and strategies. Hundreds more practicing knots and fire and first aid with your brother. You were never popular, sure, but you cuddled with a fucking dragon. Someday you'd leave town and be someone. Everything was looking up until it wasn't.

Your dad never blamed you in words, but you're a telepath and you hear when people think about you like you hear people saying your name from the other end of the room. You should've known, should've pressed, should've stayed, should've told him.

You should've been enough.

Or at least, it should've been you that went instead. He had eyes, a future. He never put his hands on his hips and pouted in a way that reminded him far too much of a long-buried woman, never had stupid unobtainable dreams, never got held back because he couldn't read the damn books.

You should've been enough. But you weren't when he needed it, which shouldn't have been a surprise because you'd never been enough before.

There's another feeling now. Concern, apprehension. A quiet, trembling voice asking, _Where's this going?_ even though it already knows the answer. Because it's your voice. The one you use when someone's yelling at you. Which, fuck it, yeah, you're fucking yelling at yourself now.

You don't know when the tears started. Fuck it. Crying in public again. Other people, the ones with eyes, can see you.

_…not that you care about the eyes…_

You take a deep, steady breath to beat down the ugly sobs. Keep some dignity, at least.

The ocean's below you. Three to five meters, probably. What would happen if you fell? Probably nothing. Unless there were rocks. It'd just be one of those tall diving boards you've heard about on television. If there were rocks, if you fell the right way, maybe there'd be nothing at all. Just the feel of the wind and then silence forever. Or maybe you'd fuck it up like everything else and wind up a damn cripple too. Then you'd deal with three times the pity. One for the jump, one for the eyes, one for the wheelchair. Like you're not even human. Just some poor sick animal everyone else is supposed to accommodate. And maybe you fucking are.

The only battles you've won are the ones you felt bad about winning. Baby humans with baby pokémon. You lost to your partner screaming puppers and bois at the top of her mind. You lost to your partner who you had a type advantage against. If you ever thought you were going to be a good battler you're thoroughly disabused of the notion now. Emotional support? You shared a damn mind with someone and then left them alone to die. What _are_ you even good for?

…

_Please don't do this._

…

What if you did?

…

_You don't want to die. You just want things to get better._

…

Well, when's that going to happen?

…

How long will it be until someone thinks about you for the last time? Your dad's probably already written you off as an idiot child who decided to throw herself to the dogs. Kekoa won't give a shit. Might even be glad. Genesis will be sad for like three days until she realizes that she's much better off with whoever replaces you. Pixie will be upset until she finds some new trainer to disappoint her. Rachel might show up to the funeral (if anyone even bothers to hold one), but she's a busy woman and you give her two weeks before she realizes how much of a waste of time you were.

_Alice, Renfield, and Searah would care._

No. They've already found new homes and trainers who won't fail them when it matters most. Maybe they'll think about you in pity or scorn a little bit in the upcoming years, but less and less until not at all.

Three years. You give it three years until the world moves on entirely like you were never here at all.

…

The narrative demands to continue, to be finished. But everything around it is screaming in fear and concern and… and… the narrative isn't you. Not all of you. You sit down and the anger breaks and the narrative isn't the loudest voice anymore.

You sob and choke up and make a scene and don't fucking care.

People would miss you. The whole town came to… to his service. People you don't think your brother ever thought much of. And their minds were fucking broken by it, scarred in a way that you'd never seen before. If you could see your mind…

Well, you weren't like this before.

You miss before. You miss Achcauhtli. You miss sitting next to him on the hill behind the house as the sun went down, and watching his shitty telenovelas while teasing him in your minds. You miss having someone in your head who loved you more than you ever loved yourself. Someone who could take the narrative, shred it, and banish it away.

…

Minds are fragile and you've seen scars that cut right down to the fucking core and turn normal, happy people into people like you. If you sat down next to someone and held their hand and knew that you'd be _happy_, if you gave them the scar you still… No. You wouldn't. That's not who you are. Not who Mom would've wanted you to be.

But gods it hurts. It hurts and you want it to stop and you don't know how to make it go away and maybe it never will.

Footsteps approach and you don't care because there are two voids inside you tearing everything into them that they can and still never being satisfied.

Someone bends down beside you. "Hey," she says. It's quiet and soft and resolute. Like Mom in the memories that Renfield showed you. "I'm Rachel, if you don't remember," the voice says.

And then it doesn't say anything else. But you can still feel her presence. The vague touch of her mind on yours, shying away from the turmoil just inside the surface but still there. It's… it's a lot. After what you did to her.

You stick out a hand and she holds it and you keep sobbing but it doesn't even matter.

* * *

She keeps reading through the menu like you care. A dish name, a description, no price. It's drowned out by the dozens of conversations and the sounds of the wind and waves and the wingull fighting on the shore and the little whispers of thoughts all around you.

Eventually she stops talking and gently but audibly sets the menu down.

"Anything sound good?"

You should respond. Make small talk. Or just give a one word answer. But it feels like you're lying down half asleep at the bottom of a pit and the answer is so high above you and you can't make yourself get up and reach it.

"Okay. Mind if I pick?"

…

Do you?

…

"Allergies? Dietary restrictions? Things you just don't like?"

…

That's very considerate of her to ask. It's very inconsiderate of you to wallow in your fucking despair like no one else is hurting. Just give her an answer.

…

Now.

…

You worthless piece of shit.

…

"I'll take that as a 'no.' You eat much for breakfast?"

…

You ate half an English muffin before it became a ball of mush in your mouth that just got bigger with every bite so you spit it out into a napkin and threw it all away like a fucking toddler.

…

"Hmm. Fried magikarp sandwich fine? It comes with stuff on the side that you can put on if you want it, but otherwise it's just fish."

"Yeah, sounds good."

…

Wait what did you just talk. Good job. Doing the bare minimum again.

Rachel shifts her arms. "Perfect. Congratulations on your Class III, by the way." She sounds like she actually cares.

"Thanks."

You pick up on more of the whispers and sounds as you slowly pull yourself out of the pit. It takes you a few seconds of conscious effort to banish them again.

"How's Pixie?"

"Unconscious. In the Pokémon Center. For the eighth time this week."

Well. It's out there now and you're only crying a little bit.

The waitress comes back and sets down a bowl and says some kind but meaningless words and takes Rachel's orders before walking away. It doesn't reach her voice, but her mind has words of confusion and concern and pity bubbling up near the surface.

Rachel pushes the bowl closer to you and then slides some small objects across the table.

"Plastic knife. Rawst butter. Little balls of fried dough in the basket. Best if you cut them in half and put the butter in."

Your arms are heavy. Your mouth is free from of the pit but your body hasn't quite been dragged out yet. Takes a few seconds just to convince your body that, no really we're being alive again. You have to very deliberately take control of your arm and take it off autopilot. Then lift it up even though it just wants to stop and rest. Next step: pick up a ball. It's rough, none of the crumbs really come off, even if you rub a finger along it). Set the ball down. Steel yourself and lift the arm, fingertips reaching down almost to the tablecloth. Find the butter packet and cut some bread in half. By the time you've buttered it you feel like you've just done twenty pull ups.

Look at you. Eating food. Shit, time to get a podium and a medal and is there a speech you'd like to give?

…

It is good though. The butter has the taste of preserved fruit. Deeper and richer and almost bitter. Not the vaguely sweet water of fresh fruit. Or the fruit snacks she gave you that tasted like soft plastic feels. The bread is probably too dry in the way that fried dough usually is if it's not fluffy. Still fried. You can just feel the little ball of fat sticking right out of your stomach. And the hint of food turns the hunger from a quiet ache in the background to a ravenous beast that shant be ignored.

Whatever. You reach for another one.

You can just skip dinner. Fake being sick. But then Genesis would bring you food, because she's like that. Nevermind. Go on a walk alone at dinner time. Sit on a bench for a few hours. Come back, say that you got food on your way up.

Rachel doesn't say anything for a while. You don't think she's eating, either. Just watching you. Weird.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asks.

It takes you an awkwardly long time to finish chewing and swallow and speak. "No."

"Okay." You reach for a third before she can follow up. She does anyway. "You know where you're starting your journey at?"

You shake your head.

"Oh. Akala. You'll get the full details at the briefing tomorrow. While you're there, there's someone I think you should meet."

You reach your hand in the basket but there's nothing left. Fuck, did you really eat all of that? How many? At least three balls three centimeters across. That's maybe a full centimeter squished across your stomach. Your skin well swell in size as the blubber grows, becomes obvious and hideous and unable to just hide beneath your shirt like it should. They'll laugh. Leave you. They should.

"I can ask for more if you—"

"No."

"Probably a good idea. Your sandwich should be here soon. Anyway, Akala. There's a woman there. She's sort of the boss of people like us on the islands, even if she likes to say that she's less of a boss and more of a preschool teacher trying to get the entire class through the day without anyone sticking their finger in a socket."

You give a "heh" because it sounds like a joke and you don't have a laugh in you right now. Your mind is still whizzing away in the background, revising your earlier plan from a walk and sitting on a bench to a run. And then figuring out the logistics of going for a run without Pixie in unfamiliar territory. Maybe go to another center and use a treadmill?

"It's sort of a formality. Meeting her. But we don't have a {psychic} school on the island and she's in the best position to talk about options and…" She sighs. "I don't know everything that you're going through, but I think it might be good for you to wait a few months and get some training before you start out."

You frown. Response. Response that needs thought. "Can't. Time limit."

"Visa time limit? Because she could get you transferred to the mainland with an educational visa in hand within a day."

"It's not the visa."

"Mission from god? World to save?"

You don't like the tone. It's closer to mocking than anything she's ever taken. Like she saw what you just did with the bread. And you don't want to explain why there's a time limit. Not now. Not here. Not when both the hunger and the narrative are feeding off of each other. Not when you feel like this.

The waitress comes back and sets down your food. Words are said. You don't really pay attention.

"I'm sorry. That was rude. I know the last thing you want right now is probably more school, but trust me: it helps. I wasn't doing too well before I went. Life sucked, {didn't understand my powers}. A few years at the academy turned me around. I like to imagine I'm doing pretty well right now."

"I'm glad it helped you."

You reach for the sandwich before your finger brushes against the vegetables on the plate. You run a hand along them. Just a tomato slice and some greens. There's a brief mental struggle and then, fine, it would be awkward to explain why you're not eating this and she was very, very nice to buy it for you. The vegetables go on and you take a bite. It's actually pretty damn good. Perks of being on the sea. The magikarp was probably swimming this morning. Still fried on the edges and the vague taste of oil and the knowledge of what you're eating and the background modeling of the fish spread out on your torso isn't looking good. Doesn't sound like Rachel's moved to touch her food, though.

"Look. I know that you don't want to talk about it but—"

{If we're going to do this, and I'd really rather not, let's not do it where people can hear.}

She sighs, aloud. "I'm not as good at that as you are, but I'll try." {You're not doing well. Second time this week. At least. Can get help before leave. Therapy. Training. Battle practice. Friends. Scared to send you into wild now.}

You take another bite to hide your scowl.

{You going to stop me?}

"Cuicatl, I am worried. Am I wrong to be?"

That is patently unfair. What are you supposed to say to that? Yes and you're saying she's crazy. No and you're admitting she's right.

"Worried about what?"

You hear her eat a little of her sandwich. Probably buying some time.

"It's lonely out there. I know. I lasted for all of three weeks in the woods before I decided it wasn't for me. If you don't have a support network and aren't in a good place going in, you're not going to be able to handle bad feelings well when they come. And they will come."

'Will come.' Like they're not here. Like they haven't _been_ here. Like they aren't the core of who you are.

"I have Pixie."

She groans. "So your entire emotional support system is a narcissistic fox? That's your argument?"

And her. And kind of Kekoa when he isn't being a dick. Not that you can blame him. Pixie started panicking about a male human bleeding from the genitals and now you understand that the dick was you all along. No wonder he hates you.

Rachel has a point. In a better, fairer world you'd even agree with her. But in this one you can't.

"Compromise: I meet with her at the end of the first island. When I know what I'm in for."

Your phone buzzes in your pocket.

"Deal. Just sent you my number. Feel free to message me when you have signal if you need to talk."

You start to pick at your fries. They're decent. Not as good as the bread or fish. And you aren't obligated to eat them. But your traitorous fingers start wandering and looking for something to do. You're quiet for long enough that your phone buzzes again, a reminder that you've ignored the message for two minutes.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?"

That takes a second. What is she doing, in normal people words?

"Food. Talking. You're busy, you don't have to—"

"Of course I don't." If she was condescending before, now she's biting. Like she wants you to shut up and go away even if her words say the opposite. "If I didn't want to do this I could just put it at the bottom of my long, long to-do list. But this is important to me. You're important to me."

You only really hear 'long, long to-do list' as a spear of guilt impales you right through your overstuffed guts. Right. You're not only wasting someone's time, you're wasting the time of someone important.

You stand up and pull out your cane. She rises to meet you can hear the faint sound bills landing on the table. "Thank you, then. I'll be on my way."

You start to walk and she keeps pace. "Where are you going?"

"Pokémon Center." Probably not a lie. Unless you decide to go somewhere else.

"Good, it's on my way. Let me come with you."

How do you say no? How do you say no so that she'll let you just walk away and give fate a few more chances to take you away? You don't think you can. She's perceptive and oddly committed. So you let her guide you and obey all the traffic laws in silence. Because there's nothing you can say that will get you what you want. That will get her to leave you alone.

You take the time to put your happy face back on. Physical things. Rolling your shoulders back. Smiling as much as you can manage. Trying to take lighter steps even though your legs still feel like lead. Singing a nursery rhyme in your head and even quietly humming it, even though Rachel might notice. Trying not just to smile but to feel it throughout your body. Breathing different. You've had practice. Years of it.

Your happy face likes things. Dreams about things. Laughs spontaneously. Thinks she'll survive the New Fire. Hopes she'll survive the New Fire. She has friends. Used to have family, but she honestly doesn't dwell on that. Crushes a little too hard on people she shouldn't. Likes her showers as cold as she can stand them. Cuddles dragons. Sometimes she even thinks people like her.

She isn't a fat, useless moron one day away from killing herself.

You don't know if she's real. You read once that "we are what we pretend to be." You'd like to think that's true. Because you like her. She's what you should have been. Someday you might even be her. But, no, you think the quote was wrong. There's what we pretend to be and what we are.

The doors open in front of her and she walks in. Rachel's footsteps don't follow. The girl turns her head just enough that the woman will know she's being acknowledged.

"You going to be alright?"

"Yes," she says.

She almost means it.


	6. Breezes and Earthquakes

As promised, here's a summary of 1.5:

The chapter opens with an extended scene of Cuicatl Ichtaca interacting with her brother, Achcauhtli, after school one day. He complains about a headache similar to the migraines his sister used to get. After offering to stay and taking care of some chores, she flies away on Alice the hydreigon for a weekend trip in the mountains.

The story skips to the present, where Cuicatl Ichtaca drops off Pixie after her bout with Kekoa. The nurse says that Pixie will be fine within 24 hours, but Kekoa will need a talk about excessive force before he slips up and gets into real trouble.

Cuicatl Ichtaca wanders the streets of Hau'oli alone and in a depressive haze until she comes to the waterfront. There she breaks down over her chronic depression, her guilt over her brother's death, her repeated losses in battle, and her loneliness. She ultimately decides that she does not want to die but has no idea how to proceed.

Rachel finds her shortly after. They go to lunch, where Cuicatl Ichtaca struggles with her eating disorder before ultimately managing to get a full meal down. Rachel expresses concerns about the journey and suggests meeting with a politically well-connected psychic to discuss options. Cuicatl Ichtaca tepidly agrees and then spends the walk back to the Pokémon Center pulling herself together.

**Normal 1.6: Earthquakes and Breezes  
**_Pixie_

What is this?

…

Is this place a place or not?

…

How would you know?

…

Who is you?

…

You are thoughts.

…

What are thoughts?

…

This.

…

There was something before.

…

What is 'befor

* * *

Reality reappears. You shake yourself off and breathe before pulling yourself in.

This is.

You are.

Skysong moves to pick you up and you let her. Her grip misses the mark just a little bit before you correct it.

"Hey, Pix," she says. The words come from her chest beside you and her mouth above you at about the same time. One deep and rumbling and the other soft and flowing. Earthquakes and breezes.

She doesn't sound angry. She smells like almost all of the feelings at once, but anger is not the main one.

Maybe she's not upset that she lost. Again.

"They feed you yet today?"

Did they? You aren't sure. That depends on how long you weren't.

"Not hungry," you answer.

Skysong hums and the noise reverberates through her and into you. "Alright. I'm going to eat some toast or something. Then I've got a meeting at the VStar building. We're getting our first assignment today. Should be on the trail before too long." She resumes humming, this time at a lower pitch. You aren't sure if you're supposed to speak over it or not. "I was thinking, maybe instead of battling we could take a few days to teach you to be a better guide fox? So you can help me get around places? You don't have to if you don't want to, of course."

"Want to," you yip. Even though you aren't entirely sure what she means. You want to help so that she loves you.

"Good," she says. Then she bends down slowly before relaxing her grip. You take the hint and jump down. "We'll start later today."

* * *

Toast, Skysong explains between bites, is the result of humans grinding up strange berries that are always dry, adding small sickness-causing animals, throwing it all in a fire, taking it out and letting it cool, and then throwing it all in a fire again. It seems like far too much effort for something that doesn't look or smell good. But then she puts on a paste that comes out of milk. It is odd that even adult humans keep drinking milk, but then again they are very weak and probably need all of the help they can get. And the paste smells good, too. Even if you are too strong and adult to want any.

* * *

Reality resumes in the blessed cold of inside. You could have walked with Skysong through the metal forest with burning air and hard black rivers, but she wants help later and you can't do any good if you are literally melted.

The other two humans in her pack are present, the still-wounded Bloodrage and the annoying frog owner Growlsleeper. There is also a new and as-yet-nameless adult male human. Before you can crawl up on the big flat climbing structure to get a good look at Nameless, Skysong pulls you back towards her and starts petting you. Her heart doesn't sound like Nameless is a threat, so you can put off your reconnaissance mission until after the petting stops.

"Looks like you've had a busy week. Kekoa and Cuicatl, congrats on your Class III. Most trainers stop there, but if you want to go higher we'll gladly help you," Nameless says in a way that makes it sound like teeth are bared. Not in the "threat" or "happy" sense, but in the "I want to make you think I am not a threat" one humans sometimes use. The scent is always the giveaway. It is strange that humans express so much through their glands but then are not able to smell it. Like they were designed to not understand each other.

Humans must be very lonely.

"Genesis, good job on the Class II. Enjoy your time off from studying, but I would try to get the Class III when you're back. Lets you take better paying missions later on."

"I, um, okay," Growlsleeper stammers out. "Thank you?"

Sometimes you think Growlsleeper is almost smart enough to not understand human communications. Like Skysong! She told you that humans make no sense and she can't explain them to you because she just cheats and uses her mind. But she's nice so she did try to answer a few questions before she finally had to give up.

"No problemo," Nameless responds before clapping his hands together to create a weak shockwave attack. Your ears flick back and Skysong flinches under you. She should work on that. It makes her very easy to take out at the start of a fight. You will help her fix this problem at a later date. Maybe roar in her ear at random times until she stops reacting. "Now! I have an important announcement to make, drumroll please," he starts banging his forepaws on the board really quickly. You glance up to Skysong and inquiry growl. Is the climbing structure a threat? You know some wood that smells dead is actually alive and moves and should be killed so that it is dead for real.

{Not a threat.}

Oh. Just another inexplicable human thing.

"At the break of dawn Wednesday we'll pick you up and take you to a secret journey starting ritual—"

"Mantine ride." Bloodrage yawns and makes no effort to slow or quiet it. "It's a mantine ride. All over the interwebs"

"Well. We'll see on Wednesday—"

"That's actually the problem," Bloodrage interjects. "Because one of us won't be seeing anything and I stillswant to make sure that you've at least thought about that before dawn Wednesday."

Skysong's hand and she moves to cross her legs under you, forcing you to move to the edge of the seat before she abruptly stops. {Sorry.} Then she moves her legs back to how they were. You take a second to make sure that everything has settled again before you quietly yawn an apology and curl back up. She resumes petting you. As she should.

"…I will look into it. If there is a problem with our _secret journey starter _we'll find something else for her to do."

Your trainer's paw lifts just a bit, one claw curled back and pointed down like a snake about to strike down. "Thank you," she says, and her claw falls back in line with the rest and ruffles your headfur.

"No problem. Now, we're going to drop you off in Heahea around noon. Pick you up thirty-five days later at North Shore Resort. We'll text you more info on that when the date comes closer."

Bloodrage leans forward and you can hear his hands pressing down on the table, causing the whole thing to creak and shift. "Anything else we need to hear or could this have just been a five line email?"

Nameless answers. He smells a little bit like fear now. Bloodrage smells like anger. They say words. It's boring. You decide to ask Skysong a question you thought of earlier. "What's a mantine?".

"Pixie," Skysong hisses. Her heart is beating faster. Threat? Is the mantine a threat?

"There a problem, miss?" Nameless asks.

"No, sir. Pixie just got a little excited. Can I go into the hall to calm her down?"

"A-OK with me. I'm sure Kekoa or Genesis can fill you in later."

" I will!" Growlsleeper chimes in.

Skysong bares her teeth and nods. "Thank you." She starts to stand so you jump up and follow her out.

"What's a mantine?" you bark again as soon as the door is closed.

Skysong sighs. "After we finish guide training, we're going to work harder on telepathy."

You hop up into her lap as she sits down on a long climbing structure that's only a little bit taller than you are.

"Why?"

"Because people don't like it when pokémon are loud when people—when humans are talking. And if you're wearing a guide harness it's_ really_ important that you're quiet when humans are talking."

You swat your tails at her. "Humans are boring."

"I know." She ruffles your headfur before _really _scratching your cheek and you lean into the wonderful petting. "Humans also have good things that we both want. So we have to be nice to them."

"I can hunt," you offer.

Skysong laughs in her high pitch windy way. "Great. Now, can you make blankets?"

"I'm better than blankets."

"Clothing?"

You stretch out before curling into a ball on her lap. She's clearly trying to drag this out, so you can afford to get comfortable.

"Falsefur is unnecessary. Sea level is too hot as is."

She stops petting you, leaving her forepaw awkwardly hovering above your neck, a finger in striking position again.

"I'm thinking that… well, you might be getting some teammates on Akala. But only for maybe two weeks! Then I'll let them go and you can be my only pokémon again."

You lift your head and make eye contact. Challenging her. Even if she can't see it. "Why?"

She leans back onto her forelegs and her head droops until her chin brushes against the base of her neck.

"I have to catch the paras anyway. I could immediately hand them over to VStar, but I think they might be useful in the trial. Assuming we go straight north. I can't see why we wouldn't. If we go the long way then, uh, how do you feel about getting lit on fire?"

You huff, "I'd like to see someone try."

She bares her teeth in either absolute fear or joyous recognition of your power. "Right. I, um, it would make me feel better if we got a water-type friend for that one."

"No," you whine. "Fire turns ice into water and then water hurts fire. I win."

Why is she already trying to replace you? You've been a good fox! She's not going to leave you. She can't. You're being nice and everything! Ice foxes are better than fish (they can't even breathe on land, much less fight there!) and she's smart for a human so she has to know that, right? So why is she acting like she doesn't get it. Like she doesn't love you.

"Just think about it, okay? I will pick up pokémon for two, three weeks at a time if I need them. If you treat them well, I'll let you veto any permanent teammates you want." She starts to get up before you can figure out a response. "And you know what bats are, right?"

Yes. You used to sit at the edge of a hole in the mountain and wait for thinwings to fly out in a giant swarm and then you would fire up sharp icicles and sometimes you'd knock one down and eat it.

"Well, mantine are like giant bats that live in the water. Since you wanted to know."

* * *

You still aren't entirely sure if Skysong is going to abandon you for a fish, but she has started treating you properly. First she took you to a store that smelled like many, many other pokémon and got you a harness. You didn't think you wanted falsefur, but the harness is sky blue with white curvy lettering and it matches your eyes and fur and it is perfect. You will wear it until it breaks and then scream until you are given one that is just as good.

Then there was practice inside of a giant building with lots of humans that was thankfully kept cool. And then more practice on a road that was not cool. It took you some time to catch on, but now you are an almost perfect guide fox pretty much all of the time. Even if Skysong did reprimand you when there was this big black moon ring eevee and you had to protect your trainer. Apparently you are not supposed to protect her when you are wearing the harness. Even from eevee. And you are not supposed to roar at the giant metal boxes humans send down the hard black rivers, even if they are going very fast and being very loud near your very vulnerable trainer. And one time people were walking very close to your trainer and you almost got stepped on so you jumped in front of Skysong and then she kicked you. She apologized. You weren't hurt (no human could hurt you). It was fine.

Now you are being rewarded for the excellent job that you did!

Rewarded outside. Which is bad. But there is at least something to hide from the sun under, even if for some utterly unknowable reason Skysong is only keeping her legs in the shade.

Growlsleeper walks back up to you and sets some things down on the structure you're resting under. "That's your chocolate, my leppa and," she bends down under the table and places a small cup down beside you. "Pixie's vanilla."

Growsleeper sits down, also only putting her legs in the shade. You approach the cup and sniff it. It feels cold. Smells strange. A little like the paste on Skysong's toast. Food?

{Yes, food.} Skysong messages. You hadn't even meant to ask her.

Okay. Food. You stick your tongue out and let the very tip of it sink into the paste. It doesn't taste like snow. Thicker. A little more solid. It's familiar, like—oh like the strange floating icicles that showed up right before Thirdborn and Sixthburn got lost.

The icicle tasted very good. It was very mean but went went down easily enough. You start taking very big licks out of the icicle corpse before it starts melting in the unbearable heat. Pretty soon there is nothing left to lick up but the wood pulp container and you sit down, your mouth and throat and belly suitably cold. Skysong loves you! Probably.

"Leppa?" Skysong asks. It takes you a second to realize that she isn't talking to you.

"Oh, yeah, they're these really sweet berries. Kind of small—"

"I know what leppa berries are. Never heard of them on ice cream."

There's a moment of silence above you. Growsleeper crosses her legs and you have to duck to avoid getting hit by her paw.

"Right. It's actually super common? Like, leppa, chocolate, and vanilla. Except no one actually gets leppa…"

"Hmm." Skysong scrapes her hollowed-out-claw against the edge of the wood pulp. "Only one place in the village that had ice cream. Owner made it from scratch. Don't think she sold leppa, but I could've just missed it. Never liked the berries' taste, anyway."

It is very hot. Even in the shade. The cold in your belly is still satisfying.

"Chocolate?" Growlsleeper asks.

"Hmm?"

"Sorry. Just. You led by stating my flavor as a question and uh. Yeah. Kinda thought that. Nevermind."

Skysong laughs. Was there something funny? A threat? Humans are very strange.

"It's fine. Honestly just wanted to see how American chocolate holds up." Growlsleeper's legs uncross and again you have to dodge a paw. "How does it?"

Skysong laughs again. Shorter this time. "It doesn't. As for the vanilla, I read online that vulpix like white foods and I also wasn't sure what flavors she can and can't eat. Dog stomach, you know?"

You are not a dog. You do not have a "dog stomach." You have a fox stomach. But you are wearing the collar so you should not point this out now. No. You will wait and then make your grievances known. Probably by hiding her white stick while she's asleep. She hates it when you do that.

"How did you know that vanilla ice cream is white?" Growlsleeper asks? Accuses? Both?

"You know most blind people weren't born blind, right?"

Another swinging kick from Growlsleeper! How dare she?

"I didn't know that."

There are a few more desperate scrapings of a claw on wood pulp above you before something gets pushed across the structure.

"I was, though. It's not the cataracts. I just leave those because my brother said they make me look like a wizard."

Growlsleeper giggles. Skysong joins in. It's short but you're not sure if they're arguing or not anymore.

"Anyway. Colors. I don't see them, but other people think they're important. That means that they're important to me. I read about what people think when they see colors. Like, blue is calm, purple is power, yellow is hunger, and red is lust and anger and all that stuff. Fascinating. And most of you sighted people don't even seem to realize it's happening to you."

That is weird. You have feelings about colors, sure, but they're simple and correct and you are very aware of them. White is the best color. Snow and vulpixes. Red is blood, which is either very good or very bad. Blue is the color of your eyes and also the sky on bad days where there aren't storms to hide in. Black is the color of prey. Green means that you have gone too far down the mountain and need to retreat back to the cold. There. All of the colors.

"Okay. But how do you figure out what color things are?"

"I ask people. Or read it in books."

"Oh." You think about asking what books are. But then you remember earlier and how Skysong doesn't like you interrupting so you don't. Like a very good fox she should love. "I can tell you what color clothes are, if you need help now."

Skysong's legs start to shift and you stand up to get out of the way. She abruptly pauses. {Crossing legs.} And then she finishes, legs crossed just above the paws. Nice gesture but it would be better if it came earlier. {It's reflex. Sorry. Don't think about it in advance.}

"Thank you. I don't think I will be buying clothes for a while, though."

It is very, very warm in the shade. You puff out air and shake yourself off, sending shards of ice clattering to the ground. You get down and roll in them, relieved to feel cold outside of your body.

"Oh. Yeah. I, uh, I meant when clothes break."

"Break?"

Growlsleeper's heartrate is noticeably elevated now. You look around, making sure that there is not an eevee or other menace that Skysong cannot see.

"Y'know? Tears and stains and stuff."

"I can sew small ones back together."

Your gorgeous fur is a prison of fire. But you are a good fox wearing a beautiful harness. You will not misbehave until the harness comes off.

"You can sew?"

"You can't?"

This is boring. What even is sewing? And your ice shards are almost all melted. Now you're hot _and wet_ and this is maybe the worst thing to ever happen to you.

"You really can't sew? No one ever taught you?"

"No. That's not … okay I guess there are a lot of girls who know how, but it's not really expected or anything?"

"Huh." There's a long-bodied mammal at the edge of the clearing. Yungoos! That's what Grasseyes called it. Should you tell Skysong about it? You will if it gets closer. They're known to steal food from the bowls of very good foxes. "It's one of the first things girls are taught in Anahuac. I just assumed…"

Growlsleeper's voice gets quiet. "Bad for girls over there?"

"Sort of. Girls have options." You see Skysong's leg twitch at the edge of your vision, but she stops herself before it moves. "But boys have better ones."

Interesting. Humans are patriarchal. That makes Bloodrage the leader of the pack. Does that mean you have to take orders from him? You hope not.

"That's sort of how it works here. Well, same opportunities. But boys get the best ones because xerneas made them stronger and smarter than us."

The heat has almost fully evaporated the water on you. Now you are only very, very hot. You accidentally flick a tail against Skysong. She ignores it.

"Kekoa's smarter than me?"

You flick another tail on accident.

{Yes?}

You whimper in heat-related pain and Skysong seems to get your meaning. She fiddles with her belt and takes your pokéball out.

"I didn't say—"

"Yeah. You did. If boys are all smarter than girls."

Growlsleeper doesn't respond as Skysong leans down and reaches out to you. She runs her hands through your fur more than is probably needed to take the harness off. Not that you're complaining.

"I don't want to brag, but I speak five languages and know a little calculus. I like to think I'm smart. Smarter than him." She finishes unhooking the last strap and pulls the harness off in one motion. Maybe a little too roughly. Then she reaches for the sweet nothingness of your pokéball. "But everyone keeps telling me I'm not. Maybe I'm wrong."

{You can tell me aloud if you're hot. Even in your harness.}

You bristle and start to growl right before you un-become.

_Now _she tells you.

* * *

You reform on Skysong's bed. A quick sniff and glance confirms that both of the other pack members are present, but neither of their pokémon are. Interesting scent though. You turn towards it and take a few small steps forward, nose to the ground. There it is! On Skysong's pillow. It's… salt? Like the ocean? Why did she throw her pillow into the sea? Even by human standards that is very strange.

Bloodrage makes harsh throat air. "Well, now that you girls are done with your shopping spree, can we get back to business?"

"Just bought a harness…" Growlsleeper mumbles.

Bloodrage ignores her and Skysong doesn't say anything at all. "Any objections to just heading up Routes 4 and 5 to North Point? We could go the long way if Kiwi wants to get her pet roasted."

You are not her pet. You are her beloved fox. And nothing could ever roast you. Much less "the long way," whatever that is. Probably a weasel or a snake and you can kill both.

"I'm fine going straight north," Skysong says before baring her teeth and tilting her head. Uh oh. "How was your excessive force lecture, by the way?"

Bloodrage glares. "Next time you want to be a sore loser, please don't drag me into it."

"Or what? You'll beat me up. And get _another _talk? Almost worth it."

"You're right." Bloodrage puts his paws together and there's a sharp breaking sound. "It almost would be."

There's a fit of coughing from right above you. Growlsleeper.

"I'm also fine going north. We want to talk about tents and stuff tonight?"

Bloodrage lifts his glare a little bit and crosses his arms. Skysong frowns. Did she want to challenge him? Even though she is female and would lose? The stalemate breaks. Bloodrage kicks his hindlegs up into his bed and lies down in it, staring at the platform above him.

"Still more road shit to discuss. One night in Heahea. Anyone insist on staying longer?"

"I'm fine," Growlsleeper says quickly enough that the words blend into each other.

Skysong shrugs. You flick a tail at her to remind her that she is within petting distance of you and is not petting you. She reacts incorrectly by reaching into the harness bag.

"Okay. With that settled, two nights on Route 4."

"Why," Skysong asks as she rummages around the bag. "We could do it in one day and not sleep on the trail at all."

She finally finds what she's looking for and pulls out—a brush! Not a human one but one for very beautiful fur. Like yours! You hop up on her lap and she takes a second to feel where you are before she starts brushing.

"Says the—" Bloodrage sighs and says nothing as Skysong brushes your mane. "I want to know if the gear works. It's also a chance to train and maybe capture some pokémon before the trial gets too close. I've thought this through. Trust me."

You press your cheek into the bristles and feel them slide past you and down your neck and side. You immediately turn around and press your other cheek against the brush before she has a chance to take it away.

"Is there still enough time if we do that?"

Bloodrage shifts onto his side to look at your trainer. "Yeah. Thirty-five nights. One in Heahea. Three on Route 4. Five in Paniola for catching stuff. Two on the lower part of Route 5. Three at Brooklet Hill. Six on the upper part of Route 5. Up to fourteen for training, trial, and castform catching. Whatever's left at North Shores."

Skysong sets the brush down and you reflexively rush towards her hand and snap your teeth down a hair away from her skin. The betrayal! She looks at you like she's annoyed and. Oh no. Maybe she thinks you're going to bite and kill her and now she hates you and is going to get rid of you as soon as she can.

Your trainer sighs and stands up. "More brushing later, Pix. And Kekoa? Your plan's good enough for now. We can talk more after my shower."

* * *

When humans lick themselves clean they insist on being surrounded by very hot water that makes all the air around the grooming site get very hot as well. You've learned to keep your distance and wait on Skysong's soft bed for her return. She vocalizes under the water. Something about a "witch" and a sky snake. You could easily kill sky snakes. Snakes hate cold. Birds hate cold. They would run the second they saw you but they wouldn't because you would sneak up on them so stealthily that they wouldn't see you so they'd die and you would eat them.

She comes out a little bit later hair damp and her body smelling odd (humans apparently lick something with a very strong scent before licking themselves clean). When she sits down you note that she's oddly cold. Not embraced by lingering heat. Very strange.

"Now," Skysong says. "Logistics. Let's start with food."

"I have a list," Bloodrage responds. "Mostly freeze-dried and canned stuff that lasts a long time and can be cooked on a camp stove. Ideally it wouldn't require cooking at all."

Skysong shakes her head. "No. Too expensive."

"Two-thirds discount on camping gear for the first month. Applies to most camping food."

Your trainer leans back and folds her arms. "And the discount gets cut in half later. Besides, preservation isn't an issue."

Bloodrage rolls his eyes. "Now, if you don't remember you agreed to a seven day segment on the trail. No refrigerators there."

"Depends on your definition of refrigerator." You get pulled up rather aggressively onto your trainer's lap.

Yes. You are a refrigerator. The cutest refrigerator. Also, hiding inside of refrigerators is very fun and maybe the best thing about surface level.

Bloodrage crosses his arms to match Skysong. "By the time you get to the end of a day of hiking you won't want to cook."

"All I'd have to do is warm stuff up. Not very hard."

"Like?"

"Beans, cheese, and vegetables on a tortilla. Cooked in advance and warmed up when needed."

"Can I jump in?" Growlsleeper asks.

"Go ahead."

"I think I vote for Kekoa's plan? I don't want to eat the same thing everyday. And backpacking food sounds exciting."

Skysong practically hisses as she exhales air. "Fine. See if I care."


	7. A White Muk

**Normal 1.7: A White Muk**  
_Genesis_

You aren't sure what you were expecting to feel. But calm? That never occurred to you.

There's wind in your hair and you know that your locks are only held in place by the weight of the water in them. You closed your eyes a long time ago because water droplets kept flying into them. And you're standing up on the back of a pokémon on the high seas with giant waves beside you and you feel nothing at all. You almost want to laugh but that would break the moment. So you're just grinning like a madwoman as water rushes by beneath you and wind beside you. Hours in the temple once a week every week of your life and somehow? Somehow this is the closest you've ever been to Xerneas.

"FUCK!"

The peace shatters. You turn around and the mantine beneath you groans. "Oh. No! Not a command. Stay forward." The mantine purrs again and you keep moving at a notably slower pace. You glance back over your shoulder without shifting your weight and accidentally giving an order. Kekoa's in the water, a receding splotch of orange with his mantine and the guide beside him. The guide looks at you and whistles; your mantine swerves away from the biggest waves and comes to a stop.

Kekoa struggles to get back on his pokémon and then slips off again while trying to get into the harness. It's mean but you giggle. He can't hear you anyway. A thought comes to you, a meaner one, and your smile starts to strain your face muscles. You practice the line in your head, refining it and thinking of all the variations when he finally gets on his mantine and comes over towards you with the guide.

He stops right beside you, the guide drifting in somewhere behind. Kekoa frowns. "What are you so happy about?"

"I just love this time of year, y'know?"

He glances up at you. While he's really hooked up to the harness and you're standing you absolutely tower above him. More than usual, anyway. "Really?"

"Yeah. I like watching the fall."

Kekoa just stares at you. For long enough that your mantine gets a little restless and raises a flipper up before splashing it down. The impact sends water straight into his face. He blinks and reaches up to wipe the seaspray off.

"At least I'm trying to do tricks. You're just gliding along like an idiot."

Something wells up in you. Something so foreign you don't quite have a word for it. "Oh yeah?" You get down and start pulling the straps onto your legs until you match his position. "I was just warming up." This is dangerous. You know it's dangerous. And yet you're too calm, too… s_omething_ to care.

Kekoa taps twice on the harness and his mantine takes off. You follow suit and then go back to gripping the handlebars for dear life as you quickly reach your comfortable speed. Kekoa's going much faster ahead of you and starting to head up the slopes. Two more knocks; your hand flies back to the grips right before you go faster than you've gone before. Kekoa does a short jump off the slope in front of you and starts rushing back down. Can you do better? Another two knocks says yes. There's a lurch forward and a slap of water in your face makes you realize that you totally forgot to close your eyes. Your hand rises and you almost knock once—_slow down_—but it quickly flies back down. No. You don't want to accelerate like that again. You blink rapidly, holding your head down and letting your hair fall in front of it in a vain attempt to keep more water from coming in. It works okay. You're probably good to go.

The speed is really something. Every time there's a crease on the surface your body lifts up and then comes crashing down. Your hands are already getting tired and you haven't even tried to jump yet. You smile. If you're going to do this, you'd better do it soon. A hard lean to the side sends you sailing right onto the face of the wave. It takes you most of the way there to realize that you're screaming out some sort of primal war cry. Right as you start to process that and the slope of the water there's a moment of stillness and you realize that you're entirely out of the water.

You come crashing back down a second later, another jolt coursing through your body. But you hold on even though you can barely feel your hands anymore, just some generalized pain at the end of your arms. You lean left, back down the wave, and mantine follows. A tilt right sends you back up the slope—and you go left. No. time to push your limits. You take a deep breath. And then another one. Then you lean right for a fraction of a second, long enough for the mantine to react. Then you shut your eyes and start yelling, yelling to scare the sea or Kekoa or your fears. You feel weightless for a little longer this time before gravity reasserts itself.

Your reaction is faster. One down. One up. One down. One up. One down. One up, roaring again. This time you keep your eyes open. It seems you went higher this time. Whether that's being able to see or the extra trip up and down the wave face you don't know.

You can feel the bones in your hand and their lock on the grip. You think your feet are slipping in the harness's boots. Your knees have taken more impacts than they're useful. It doesn't matter. You lean left and ride on.

* * *

Everything is sore, your hands most of all. Yet for some utterly baffling reason you're still smiling like an idiot by the time you get to shore. It almost feels bad to take the ugly and awkward-fitting life jacket off, and not just because your fingers struggle with the buckles way more than they did a few hours ago.

Kekoa takes his off rather quickly and gets his phone and sandals from the waterproof bag. Without talking to you. Probably still mad that he fell five times and you only fell once (and honestly it was kind of fun once the shock wore off). You stagger back towards the guide's mantine to return the life jacket and pick up your stuff. He hasn't actually taken his jacket off yet. And he's watching you as you approach. Which. Attention. Why?

"Hey, um, just dropping this off." Which he knows. Of course.

He takes it as a cue to start talking. "You were pretty great out there."

"I. What? I just did a flip and fell off."

The guide laughs. "Okay, maybe not _great_. But it looked like you were having fun. Sounded like it too."

You glance aside. Kekoa's face is buried in his phone. No help. Or hurt. What do?

Your choice is made for you: "We could probably give you a job if you wanted it." What. "Twenty bucks an hour. On the surf almost every day. Could be way worse."

You have to consciously close your mouth. Your toes shift in the sand and you don't bother to stop that. "But I'm not good at it." Wait should you be arguing against it? Would it be lying if you didn't point it out or.

"Oh, we can teach you how to _do_ it. Can't teach you how to love it. We can give you a stipend as you learn if money's a problem right now."

You almost keep arguing. But you don't. If it takes Mom time to come around a job could be good. And it's fun. Maybe you shouldn't drop out of your journey without thinking about it?

"Hey, it's fine if you can't take it now. Just give us a call if you want it. Tell them Eric rec'd you."

"Thanks," you tell Eric. Because you don't know what else to say. You pick up your phone and flip flops and drop the jacket before heading to Kekoa.

He glances up at you and then goes back to his phone. "Kiwi's already at the Pokémon Center. Let's get lunch there and then split up for the afternoon.

His pecs are way bigger than you were expecting. He's not that buff anywhere else. His arms are actually kind of skinny. Kekoa looks up and glares at you. Oh. Yeah. You kind of are being gross. "Yeah, sure, sounds good."

There's a bit of silence. Right up until the concrete stairs rising out of the sand. "You taking the job?" Kekoa asks.

The streets are pretty enough. Cobblestone roads with clean concrete sidewalks. A mix of upscale boutiques and smaller touristy stores with surfboards and leis and inflatable sharpedo (?) in the windows. You know he asked you a question but you still take a moment to look at the world before you answer.

"I don't know. Maybe?"

You come to a stop at a crosswalk. The red hand is up but there's not traffic. Kekoa looks at you with an unreadable face and then keeps walking into the street.

* * *

You peed an hour ago but you're still staring at the ceiling. The phone clock says it's only 2:47. You got barely four hours of sleep and you should get more because tomorrow is going to be a long, long day and you're tired now.

Not that the tiredness is helping you actually get rest. You're under the covers, counted 120 wooloo rolling down the hill, tried closing your eyes and focusing on the darkness… nothing's worked. And now you're getting worked up because nothing's worked.

Maybe you need fresh air? Is it safe, though? You know you're near the beach, near Tidesong, but this isn't your side of town. You really only came over this far to visit Becca and you never walked here. Or never went too far outside at night. Was that because it was unsafe? Or because you just didn't want to? Well. You also didn't have a pokémon then. Maybe you should take Sir Bubbles out on a walk. He is nocturnal after all.

Yeah. Yeah, you'll do that. Just for a little bit. Then it's right back to sleep for you and right back to the pool for Sir Bubbles. You slowly roll out, wincing at the creaking noises the bed makes. Right above Cuicatl. And she's probably really sensitive to that. When your feet hit the ground with a thud after you leave the ladder a little too early you glance at her in a panic. It looks like she's somehow still asleep. But her pupper is very much awake and looking at you like you just killed her entire family.

"Sorry," you whisper. Even though she might not even be able to understand you. Thankfully you're already in a t-shirt and shorts so you really just have to grab your purse on the way out the door. And of course you manage to make the door shutting into a whole loud 'boom' thing. Of course.

* * *

The streets are as dead as the halls and pool were. There's one restaurant—a bar maybe—two blocks down with lights shining from it and a few people milling outside. Nobody between you and the water, though. You pull Sir Bubbles a little tighter to your chest and start walking to the coast. There's a faint breeze, enough to make you a little bit cold. You glance up: the skies are cloudy and you can't see any stars. Oh. Not great weather for a night walk. At least it's not—you aren't going to finish that thought. No wood to knock on.

Alright. Quick walk. Just the couple blocks to the edge of the beach. The same shops look almost ominous when the light only reaches in to the display shelves. You find yourself picking up the pace reflexively. It's still fine. One car rolls past and turns on to a side street in front of you. It keeps moving so you relax. It's too quiet. There should be birdsong or people or something beyond the rolling of the waves.

By the time you've worked yourself up enough that you don't feel even a little bit tired you've made it to the plaza-type area before the steps down to the beach. There's a concrete rail to lean on and it's wide enough to set Sir Bubbles down on. Let him look at the water. Not fresh water but he might not know that. And you can always withdraw him if he does make a run for it.

He doesn't. He does look at you with his wide, expressive eyes for a fraction of a second before turning back to the ocean. After a second he wiggles and deflates a little bit as he lowers himself down to the railing. You giggle to yourself. He's so _cute_. Wouldn't have thought a frog could be but here you are.

Here. You. Are.

The thought isn't depressing. Calming, maybe. Takes the anxiety and giddiness away in an instant.

Here. You. Are. Halfway across town and a world away from where you were a month ago. For now. Mom is moody but she loves you. She'll realize it was all a misunderstanding and come around. If she can find it in herself to visit Exodus once a month she can find it in herself to forgive you. Still. Being with Sir Bubbles. The mantine riding. The _job offer_. You giggle again. It's hard to imagine telling Mom that you're going to be a surfer girl from now on. Would she even know what to say?

No. You couldn't accept it. They'd spend all that time training you and then you'd just go back to the other side of town. But it was fun. Might be worth trying to get lessons once everything goes back to normal. It is exercise. At least your body _feels_ like it was exercise. And it's not manly like basketball or something you're not pretty enough for like cheerleading so Mom shouldn't have a problem with it.

The wind picks up enough that you can hear it. Nope nope nope. Time to go back to your warm bed. After dropping Sir Bubbles off in. Is it a heated pool? Should it be? You didn't catch him in a heated pond. Huh. You should do some more reading. Probably need to know it for your Class III anyway.

Oh. Right. Your Class III. That test that _Cuicatl_ spent almost a week studying for. You should probably research for that on the trail but. You didn't bring a guide book. Were you supposed to? Can Cuicatl and Kekoa just fill you in on the important stuff? Is that cheating?

No. Not now. These are tomorrow thoughts. Or at least bed thoughts. You scoop Sir Bubbles back into your arms and turn around. You immediately realize that you aren't as alone as you were when you arrived. There are two people in the street. Approaching you. It would be innocent but they've got the exaggerated thug walk and. Oh no. This is.

Right on cue one of the thugs drops a boombox and hits a button. _Yeaaaaaaah. Team Skull. _They step over the boombox and keep walking towards you, their arms joining the exaggerated swinging of their hips. All in time with the beat. Did they practice?

"Did you practice that?"

No. No no no no no no no. Bad Genesis. Get a filter. At least around Skull.

One of the gangsters just laughs. "No practice. We're just born with the beat in our bones."

The other looks at him. "Shit, homie, of course we practiced. Drills for days. Making sure we're bone hard enough to roll with the toughest crew in this whole joint."

"It's more intimidating if you don't mention that," Skull 1 hisses. Under his breath. So you don't hear it. You pretend no to, partially out of politeness, partially out of confusion, partially out of fear.

"I ain't busting my tailbone for a week and not taking credit for it. Shit's impressive." He turns towards you. "It is impressive, right?"

"I. Um. Yes?"

"Heh. See? Girl knows we're professionals to the bone. She's shaking from her skull to her metatarsals."

"Metatarsals?" you ask. Your hands immediately fly to your mouth and you kind of accidentally drop Sir Bubbles. He squeaks when he hits the ground. A downward glance shows that he's very annoyed at you but otherwise unharmed.

The Skulls are nice enough to ignore your mishap. "Toe bones? You been to school right?"

"Yes." Although you are a high school dropout. Huh. Hadn't seen that one coming. "And, uh, you?"

"'course I've been to school. Dropped out to be a straight up gangsta, no bones about it, but I still got knowledge in my cranium, yo. Now." Both skulls hold out their elbows and angle their hands in. "Now we're gonna get bone—"

Light. There's light in your eyes until it fades into white spots. There's a _crack_ like a whip and then screaming in front of you. Rapid blinks do no good. What's going on? What—there's a pitter patter of feet on the sand behind you. Sir Bubbles. Running to the water. To the _salt water_. You reach down and fumble with your purse until you feel a plastic orb. Some color has filtered back into the bright white spots. You run your finger along the pokéball—is this how Cuicatl sees everything?—and find the button. You turn around, hold it out, and with no idea whatsoever if you're pointed in the right direction you click the button. Red light joins the white in the parts of your vision that are more or less back. You think that worked? Would there be a red flash if it didn't?

There's another _crack_ and a flash of light behind you that illuminates the beach. You clench yourself together and stand dead still for one second. Ten seconds. Twenty seconds. Most of your vision is back, but when you blink you can still see the white and when you open your eyes you can see the same pattern in faint red.

You slowly turn around. Both of the Skull thugs are on the ground, sprawled out. It smells like burned food. No, burned hair. Like the litten Emily's sister—uh, what's her name—had. There's a man and a pokemon standing over them. The man's tall, a little wide, his hair's a little too long. No uniform or anything. Just a t-shirt and shorts. Like you. The pokémon's just a little bit shorter. Glowing yellow stripes mixed in with black strips of darkness. Electa-something. Vire? No, they're bulkier, right? Electabuzz then.

You step back reflexively. Even though it's fine and they just saved you and. Deep breath. Smile. People etiquette. "Thank you."

He barks out a one-syllable laugh. "No need, miss. Just doing my civic duty." He keeps looking at you with a sort of wicked smile. Like he's laughing inside, but it might be at your expense. "They hurt you?"

You shake your head and mouth "no." You meant to say it but it just kind of didn't happen and it's best to make it look like you meant to do that.

Your rescuer snorts. "Good. Now, you want a walk home?"

You glance between the man and the 'mon. It's just a short walk back. And he's perfectly trustworthy but your heart rate's still up and everything still feels like danger. "No thank you."

He shrugs and steps aside. "Suit yourself, then."

You mouth and whisper something else, honestly you're not sure what, and sleep past him. You get two blocks away in silence. You'd have thought that everyone would be in the streets after two lightning bolts went off but apparently not. Maybe that's just normal in this part of the city. Or they thought it was just really late fireworks or something.

_Yeaaaaaaah. Team Skull._

You whip around and. There's no one there. No, you can sort of see the two Skulls lying down by the beach. But no one else. The music picks up—the music. By. The. Tree. No one turned the boombox off. _No one turned the boombox off._

It starts as a giggle. Then it becomes a laugh. Then it gets louder and vocal. At some point you're laughing so loud that you're coughing and crying but laughing nonetheless. _No one turned the boombox off. _It's probably not funny but it's three in the morning and, and _no one turned the boombox off._

At some point the wind picks up and the euphoria fades into a faint warmth beneath your skin. There was Skull. And you _bantered with them_. Then walked away. You got a job offer and survived Skull and the music is still playing and your journey hasn't even really begun yet.

Yeah. It's not how you thought it would go. But you'll take it.

Time to get whatever sleep you can.

* * *

"You been in it?"

You do your best to blink the sleep out of your eyes before turning to Kekoa. Why did you agree to leave before dawn? "Hmm?"

"The hotel? You been in it?"

Oh. Right. The Tidesong. Big white building made of limestone or marble or whatever. Even the pavement's made of something similar. Right in front of you, can't miss it. Unless you're asleep.

"Yes."

"And is it just as pretty on the inside?"

It is. The lobby is six or seven stories high and has a series of beautiful waterfall-type fountains curving around it and canals and bridges on the floor. Always some beautiful music echoing through it too. Grand Hano's bigger but yeah Tidesong's probably prettier. Even if you'd never say that to Dad's face.

Cuicatl yawns. Probably a real yawn. WIth some extra emphasis added on top for drama. "You two going to do this for every building you see?"

Kekoa half-turns and you can tell that he's going to start something. But he doesn't. Just looks at her vulpix. About five feet in front of her trainer facing the big white building with her tails drooping.

It probably reminds her of home.

"Let's just go," Kekoa says.

It's not that much farther to the gate of Route 4. And it is a very literal gate, ten feet tall and made up wood and rope with a wooden sign dangling from the top. Is this how all routes start?

Kekoa just keeps walking through with no fanfare. You say a silent prayer to xerneas as you pass through. For luck. You might need it.

The start of the route is classic Alola with palm trees and broad-leaf rainforest plants. Then once you're… five minutes? Ten minutes? A half hour? Honestly you're too tired to think about much more than putting one foot in front of the other. Anyway. Once you're some ways in the plants just die. There's grass on the forest floor, a few shrubs, even a small fern tree or two. But the tall trees bigger around than you are dead, their bark coated in black, charred ruin.

It's quieter than you thought a forest would be. Or a route. And in the first however long it is until Kekoa steps off the path to take a break you only see a couple hoot-hoot flying home for the day and a few rattata scurrying along the path. It's light now so maybe that will wake more stuff up?

* * *

Daylight does not wake much more stuff up. A few pikipek, especially around dawn. But as the day wears on and your eyelids get heavier there just isn't that much stuff going on around you. Cuicatl's going kind of slow but she's blind and you don't really want to go fast so it's all fine with you.

"What's it like around us?" she asks from up front.

"Burnt as shit."

"Controlled burn? Forest fire?"

"Blacepholon attack six weeks ago," he answers.

You hear Cuicatl almost trip over something—again—before she steadies herself and moves on. "What's a blacepholon?"

Kekoa sighs. In the dramatic way. "Oh, where to start… so three years back this billionaire chick broke a hole in reality and a bunch of monsters came through. And kept coming through. The bitch is safe in Japan, if you're wondering. Never going to get at trial for the thousands of deaths she caused."

You're pretty sure it hasn't been thousands. High hundreds maybe. But that's a bad fight to pick. "Lusamine was sick," you say instead. "Maybe even possessed."

Kekoa stops and turns around to face you. Cuicatl keeps walking for a few seconds before she realizes that the footsteps have stopped. "Who says that? The psychologists she hired? The politicians she bribed? Grow up. She was no more fucked in the head than any other asshole with a billion dollars and no real work to do."

You never met Lusamine. Or her kids (although they're supposedly nice). His tone still stirs something inside of you that you aren't used to feeling. "I choose to see the best in people."

He actually laughs. Not real laughter. A quick, mocking "hah!"

"Oh man, must be nice being a millionaire, huh?"

"You don't know me." Your voice is flat. And… colder than you knew you could make it. You should stop. Draw in someone else to tell Kekoa he's being rude again. "Cuicatl, you have anything to add?"

"I don't know the details but I will side with Kekoa here."

"Eyy, high five—uh, I mean… can I just touch your hand?" Cuicatl holds her hand out and Kekoa slaps it. You're still registering that she's on his side? Why? You thought she disliked him?

"I've never understood why you let your merchants get away with so much," Cuicatl answers your unspoken question. "We have businessmen in Anahuac. No billionaires. If someone did that well they'd give the money to the community or the priests or the treasury. The rich serve the people. Not the other way around." She sounds very proud. Like she built the system herself.

"Yeah, well, that's why half your country doesn't have food."

Oh. Oh no. Oh Xerneas no. You didn't say that aloud. Couldn't have. You. You wouldn't. _You're a good person. _And you're not a racist! You don't do the racisms!

Kekoa stares at you, mouth hanging open a little. Crap. You were mean enough that _he's_ shocked. Eventually Cuicatl kicks one foot behind the other and spins around in one fluid motion before she starts walking down the trail in silence.

* * *

"You've got to be kidding me."

Kekoa grins. "Hey, don't worry. Kiwi won't peek."

"What's going on?"

"Oh, the only toilet in camp is just a seat on the hillside. No outhouse or anything. Hell, not even a back."

You make eye contact with him for a second before glancing away. "You sound way too happy about this."

He sticks out his hand. "Hey, you don't look at mine, I don't look at yours. Deal?"

"Deal—" he pulls his hand away right before you can shake it.

"Psyche."

"Girls, I know you love each other but if you can keep your eyes to yourselves while I'm around—"

Kekoa crosses his arms and takes a step back so he can properly glare at. Glare at the blind girl. He turns on you. "What are you giggling about?"

"Nothing," you answer. Right before an idea hits you! You start walking up the hill to the toilet, letting Sir Bubbles out as you walk. "Sir Bubbles! Use hypnosis on anyone who looks this way!" He croaks, which honestly could mean anything, and you keep on moving, basking in your brilliance.

* * *

There's a row of stumps arranged around a weird metal ring half-buried in the ground. Cuicatl and Kekoa are sitting on two of them when you arrive so you sit on a third that forms a roughly equidistant triangle for optimal socialization. That is how you're supposed to sit, right? Or were you supposed to sit between them?

Kekoa tosses you a white bag. And you don't catch it because you aren't good at catching things so it sails right past you. You stand up, pick up the bag, and sit back down. Thankfully he doesn't throw anything else at you.

"Freeze-dried potato salad. Just pour in some water, shake and, voila, instant haole food."

You follow his lead. About a third—whoops—about half of your water bottle then maybe thirty seconds of shaking. Then you pull out the spoon in your mess kit and. The smell hits you before you even see it. It's not rotten. Just… it's hard to describe. And the looks. A few clumps of white powder in a soupy liquid. You take another thirty seconds to shake that out and at the end it's better, but not good. And the smell only got worse. You take a moment to look at the other two. Kekoa has a look on his face that you've never seen before. Cuicatl is negotiating with her vulpix; the fox has her fur fluffed up in alarm and her eyes are wide open in shock.

"It's okay," Cuicatl whispers. "You don't have to do it." She stands up and starts walking to you before dropping her sealed white bag in your lap. "Here. Wouldn't want you to starve or anything. Not sure your weak American stomach could take it."

"You know," Kekoa follows up a bit too loudly, "we have to pack out what we don't eat. So if you don't want that to explode all over the inside of your backpack…"

You look down at the bags. This is fine. You can do this. You put a spoon in and take it out with your eyes closed. It goes into your mouth and. The taste is _bad._ Like chugging a muk. Not that you've done that. You can still guess how it would taste since smell and taste are linked. It is those two, right? Might be touch and taste. And if the taste is bad the texture is somehow worse. Grains of sand in a watery goop.

You swallow it down and vow to never do a racism again.


	8. The Rules

**Normal 1.8: The Rules **

_Cuicatl Ichtaca_

* * *

Achcauhtli is staying after for some sports game, your dad's out of town, and your godmother will want help making tortillas or doing laundry or whatever so you walk over to her house alone. Not that it bothers you as much as your brother and everyone else seem to think it does. It's just a certain number of steps. A number you don't even count anymore. Your feet just know the path. Honestly, the everpresent heat and humidity and the rough stone roads and all of the hills bother you more.

You're interrupted halfway through by a gust of wind behind you. "Hello?" Adult? Pokémon? Car? What are you dealing with here?

There's a low hiss and a deep grumble in response. You wait for the translation to pop into your mind but it never does. Dark-type. Like mandibuzz. Except far, far bigger. You can feel hot breath hitting your face from above. And also feel the breath coming on the left side of your abdomen and on your right elbow. Their breath smells like meat. Carnivore. Big carnivore. Big carnivore that approached a small disabled target while she was alone. Does this count as a combat death? Would it count if you hit it? Somehow the thought brings you out of paralysis and you ram your small fist into the belly of the giant beast.

You manage to bust open your knuckles. The carnivore doesn't make any noise at all. Oh well. You tried. It was a battle. Now you get to meet mom. It could be worse. Even if part of your gut is still clenched up and you're crying for reasons you don't quite understand.

Two rough, scaly limbs rap themselves around you and you can feel two streams of breath on your back. Then the chest pushes in. The warm, rough chest that you tried to punch. Probably has your blood on it mixed in with the creature's other prey.

Then you fly. Your stomach drops and you almost vomit. You reflexively hug the giant monster. Maybe you scream. For a moment you don't exist; there's just panic and awe where a girl's mind used to be. Eventually you get pulled back together. She's bringing you somewhere else. Why? Where? Is she afraid someone would see? Are there even any pokémon in the village that could fight something like this? You've heard rumors that a really good battler lived here once. But you've never met them. Some of the kids in school don't even believe he was real.

The dragon lowers and your stomach lurches up. This time you do puke. And then dry heave when you hit the ground. It's fine. You're probably in the nest of a giant murder beast but it's fine. It'll all be over soon. Just keep it together and you'll be fine-ish.

{Little rough, don't you think?}

The voice is in your head. Only in your head. Your brother can do that if he's fine with a psychic headache where you kind of blur together for a bit. You can do it with a slightly smaller headache. You've never met anyone else who could do it.

There's a low groan and a whine that sounds like metal rubbing on metal. You cover your ears on reflex.

{Why is she bleeding?}

Another horrible whine followed by a short pouting sound. You don't have a mental translation, but you can guess it's, "that's not my fault, she punched me." Were you supposed to be intact for this? Whatever this is? Why?

{You can stop shaking. You aren't being hunted. We just wanted to talk.}

"A-about what?" you stammer out. Your voice is shaking. You realize a moment later that your body is too.

{How much have you been told about your mother?}

* * *

You never sleep well your first night in a new place. Your godmother's home, hotel rooms, impromptu shelters in the mountains—doesn't matter. Achca—_he_ was always better at that than you.

This night isn't helped by the rain. Ordinarily it's soothing; you love it when you can time naps to rain showers. You remember that when you were a young girl your father disciplined you with a cactus spike for being lazy. Even though it wasn't your fault you lived in a rainforest! Okay, _technically _not a rainforest. But only by five centimeters of rainfall or something. He only had to do that once. You got the point: you should only take rain naps when he's really busy or out of town.

No, rain is good for sleeping. But someone (Kekoa) laid the tarp wrong and now you're lying down in a centimeter or two of water on the edge of the tent. Maybe Genesis is dry, snoring away on her inflatable map. Kekoa said you'd only need two for the tent. Like he was damn certain of it. And you'd let him have his way because he was condescending as hell when you tried to dispute it. Anyway. Genesis is lying down, arms spread out a little to the sides on a mat. He probably has one. You got pushed to the edge of the crowded tent, lying on your side pressed against the wet fabric but still sometimes touching Genesis's arm. Your only consolations are that Pix doesn't seem to mind as she purrs away on top of you and Kekoa isn't sleeping either. You can tell. Enough years sharing a room with. With someone taught you the signs.

You take stock. This sucks. Nothing to be done. How do you minimize the suck that future Cuicatl Ichtaca has to endure? Start with clothes. Kekoa whined about "I'm the one carrying this, y'know" when you were packing and maybe you got a bit too prideful. You have three sets of clothes: sleepwear for sleep; a quechquemitl, tank top, and shorts for hiking; and a tunic and leggings for formal occasions. The sleepwear is going to be wet and unless the rain stops and you can talk Kekoa into staying in camp for a while you won't have a good chance to dry it. That probably means mildew if you stuff it into a plastic bag and leave it in a dark pack all day. You don't want to sleep in mildew. You aren't tracking in the trail scents of the hiking clothes into your tent because that's how you end up sharing a bed with a rattata and there is not any more room to share. So. You could just sleep in your more formal stuff. It's still reasonably comfy. Could sleep in it. But the tunic was a gift from your godmother; you don't want to ruin it if it rains again. Or get vulpix fur on it. You don't deserve Pix but there are some things you don't want taken from you, even by her.

A yawn escapes your lips. Tired. Solutions later. Try to sleep.

You relax and try to meditate.

At some point it works.

* * *

"Get out."

You yawn and stretch your body out, reveling in both acts. "Won't look. Promise," you grumble.

"Out. Not big enough to change in here with you," Genesis says.

"Yeah, fine." Another, slightly less satisfying yawn that still leaves you with a grin. "Whatever."

The tent isn't familiar yet. Your fingers still struggle to find the zipper out to the rain fly, your boots, the first zipper again so you can close it, the zipper out of the rain fly, and then the rain fly zipper again. Maybe it would be easier if you were fully awake.

Pixie follows at some point, noticeable as a wave of cold air sometimes sliding by your ankle. "Good morning, friend." She huffs in response. You smile when you get the translation. "Oh, come on, it's not even that hot out." You get one good vertical stretch in and then settle, pressing your weight down as far into the earth as it can go. She doesn't answer in that time. "You want to take me to the latrine?"

Again, no verbal answer. But the air currents start moving a little. She's difficult to follow without the leash because her footsteps are nearly silent. Your only saving grace is that she doesn't try particularly hard to avoid stepping on fallen leaves and twigs. Honestly she might even be making a game out of dominating as many as she can. It wouldn't be unexpected from her. Got to show the icky leaves who's boss.

Eventually Pix stops moving and your boots fall on concrete. "Thanks, girl." She barks, acknowledging the (barely) sufficient praise. You hold out your arms and feel for the door. Is there more than one door? Like, girl / boy doors? There's only one toilet inside with a metallic sink outside. And you feel a lock, so it doesn't matter much.

What does matter is that this latrine smells awful. And it feels so cramped. It's hard to explain how to sighted people but you can tell when you're in a very tight spice. And you hate it. Always have. Especially if all the textures are cold metal or wood rough enough that you're worried about splinters. And the smell is. Bleck.

You finish your business as quickly as possible, thoroughly wash your hands, and walk a comfortable distance in the general direction of camp. Then you stop and crouch down, holding a hand out. "I think a very good guide fox has earned some scratches."

Said fox practically teleports to your hand and starts rubbing her scent glands against it while you dig your fingers into her chin. Eventually she lifts her head up and you get a really good scratch there before she pushes down and you move on to cupping her cheek with one hand and scratching her ears with the other. Then she starts moving in circles and you just hold a hand unmoving, letting her continuously scratch her back, head, and tail in an endless loop. You'd think she'd get dizzy pretty quickly but she goes for a full minute or two, chasing her tail ever faster, before she slows down and collapses in a heap.

You gently scoop her up into your arms and hug her to your chest. She's rather relaxed, occasionally twitching a tail or pressing one of her legs against you and squirming for a better view. Otherwise calm. Close enough you can feel her heartbeat. And feel so much of her glorious fur pressed against your arms. She's a lot like Searah, but cold.

A pause and a flood of panic.

No. It's fine. You'll see her soon. Even a trained heatmor is 250,000 Quatchli, or $10,000, tops. Today is a decent day. Don't ruin it.

You squeeze Pix tight enough that she whines a little before relaxing. Right. Is not a stress ball. Is a fox.

* * *

Dried pink apricorns aren't terrible. You get the whole pack down before Pixie finishes her bowl.

"You like those things?" Kekoa asks.

"Yeah. Used to love them as a kid. Haven't had them in years, though. Not quite as good as I remember."

He walks over to you and shoves something into your hand. Genesis belatedly follows. Your muscles tighten and your breathing picks up a little. It's fine. It's fine. It's fine. Just apricorns. Fills your belly. Almost no fat at all. Keeps you from overeating later. Wins all around. It's fine. It's fine. You can relax. Slowly. Breathe. Slowly. Eat. The. Apricorns. You. Sad. Excuse. For. A. Human. Being.

You reach into Kekoa's bag and pull a few out while the narrative starts stirring into gear in the background. It's fine. You're in nature. It's fine. Seven years from now when the world ends you'll barely remember this at all.

* * *

"Okay, so if neither of you two wants to capture a mudbray then—"

Kekoa clears his throat. He then continues to speak with what you're pretty sure is an exaggerated British accent. Hell, even _your mental translation _adds the bad accent. "I hereby establish The Rules Of The Trail. Rule #1: Shut up, Jennifer."

There's a period of silence. The footsteps continue. You really hate it when they just stop without telling you. They're much faster than you are since they can just look down and see if there are rocks or tree roots and you have to use a hiking stick (not the cane, don't want to get it dirty) to feel that out) but the social exclusion bothers you.

"Rule #2," Genesis says in an accent that again makes it into your power. And accent's never filter in. You're pretty sure they've never even heard yours because then Kekoa definitely would've given you shit. "Shut up, Kekoa." The accent drops. From the real-time English and the slightly delayed Nahuatl translation. "See, I can do that too."

"Rule #3: Shut up Kiwi." Kekoa proclaims.

You make a show of groaning. "What did I do?"

"Not personal, just needed to complete the set." You open your mouth and he cuts you off. "_Unless_, I'm invoking Rule #3, in which case, yeah, it is personal."

You sigh, bite your tongue, and count down. Not worth pressing this. It'll just make you upset. "Okay. Fine. Whatever. And Genesis? I'd rather we not get a mudsdale. You ever walked on a horse trail?"

She's quiet for long enough that you accept that she isn't one of the "horse girls" that upper class American girls were often stereotyped as being. Fascinating to discover what is and isn't true about this country after years of hearing the Anahuac view on it (i.e. degenerate misogynist racist genocidal madmen who crush their lower classes) and the American film version (pretty much the same thing).

"No, never been on a horse trail. Why?"

"Well," you start. "If it's rained recently they turn the entire trail into mud. And they are big enough that I mean _the entire_ trail." Your foot catches on a rock and you hold in a curse. It's fine. Get over it. Barely even hurts. Kekoa snickers behind you so it must have been a visible stumble. Asshole. "Now, that wouldn't be so bad. Everyone steps in mud eventually—"

"That what your mommy told you?" Kekoa asks.

Your blood goes cold. No. Don't dignify him with a physical reaction. "No. But I heard your mom shoved you in mud to make you cleaner." Does that joke even make sense? He doesn't respond so it either does or really, really doesn't. Time to plow on regardless. "Horses shit. A lot. All of them. Rapidash, zebstrika, mudsdale—doesn't matter. They shit. Everywhere. In large amounts. Then they mix that shit in with the mud that, again, is the entire trail."

"Oh," Genesis responds. "That's, uh."

"Yeah. So let's not. Not everyone here grew up bathing in that shit, right?"

"Rule #3, Kiwi," Kekoa finally responds.

"Aw, is someone mommy's little girl?" It's a low blow and he'll hate you for it. But he already hates you and if he wants to drag your mother dead mother into this, he can deal with the consequences.

"Rule #4: Get new jokes."

"Because 'Kiwi' is still a riot every time, right?"

He doesn't answer that.

* * *

Lunch is decent. Small trail mix bags. Nuts and dried fruit. A lot of dried fruit. No chocolate, either. Not that you need chocolate but it does give more of an incentive to eat it. But those pinap berries, right? Those are good. Sort of. Texture's weird when dry. Admittedly you've only had the canned ones and now dry ones. Wait, this is Alola. Shouldn't you have fresh ones or. Ugh. It's decent. That's what you mean. The nuts have quite a bit of fat but even if you stuck the whole bag right on your stomach it's not too much of an addition.

"Hey, Cuicatl?" Genesis asks.

"Hmm?"

"Could I borrow, I mean, could I take some kibble at meals? Just a few pieces. I can, um, I can help pay for it once you need some more."

You take the bag back out from your pack. Pixie's feet pitter over and you pour her a few more pieces out of guilt. "Yeah, come get it."

She does and walks away. Is it for Sir Bubbles? Is she going to eat it?

Doesn't really matter. Just add it to the list of weird American shit.

* * *

Your voice dances and you want to move your body with it. How long has it been since you were in the cuicacalli? Would've been right before. GOOD. DAY. How many times is _he_ going to come up on your good day? You correct your pitch back up and move back through the wordless song. Does that translate?

"Rule #5: No Pirates of the Caribbean," Kekoa says.

You keep on singing. It is good music. And it's upbeat enough that it can almost silence your feelings.

"Going to throw in a Rule #3 for good measure now."

You break off the song. "Well, you brought it up."

He'd asked whether Aztec gold could make you immortal. You'd started humming, and then singing, He's a Pirate by way of answer. You're pretty sure the answer is no, though. Undead skeleton warriors are a thing and theoretically a female pirate could give birth at sea and later come back as one at the end of the world, but the _Black Pearl _crew was way too male for that. Or maybe they were all like Kekoa. You won't judge.

"Yes, I started it. And I'm ending it. Keep singing and I will trip you."

Well, screw him. You have a very pretty voice. And nice hair. And maybe you're a fat disgusting waste of humanity but you're very proud of those two things.

"Fighting like a pirate, I see? Dun-dun dun-dun-dun-dun-dun. Dun. Dun. Dun-dun-dun—Shit!"

You catch yourself on the way down and your pack isn't heavy enough to cause serious problems. You can still feel a cut on your thigh and your hands aren't feeling too good either. Can't tell if that's just the aftershocks of hitting the rocks on the trail or something worse. More than that, it had rained last night. The whole trail is coated in mud. Pixie won't want to cuddle you and damn him you need her.

But you deserved it. For the mama's girl dig. And just in general you deserve a few trips here and there. Remind you of your place. Hell, might make you prettier. You almost just drop down and collapse into the mud, let your face hit the earth and then wallow there forever. They could just hike faster and

"Kekoa, what the hell?"

Did she just… swear? You hear her move towards you and throw her pack off before bending down. At least, you hear her knees crack and feel the moving wind so you assume she bent should probably get her knees checked out. She's, what, fifteen?

"Well, she'll always remember that this is the day we established Rule Fucking Four."

You feel a hand brush against your elbow. "Need help?

Yeah. More than she can give. You swallow it down. The cuicacalli taught you acting alongside song and dance and legends. Time to act. Not happy. Indignant? Flippant? Scowl a little. Show no real pain.

"Nah, I'm fine." You push yourself up and make a show of brushing your hands off on your equally muddy shorts. You glance over your shoulder and deepen your scowl. "And 'this is the day we almost established Rule Fucking Four.' Which is still a terrible joke. Two out of ten." That's the end of that. Now you can go in silence. Manage your steps. Maybe hum a little bit; you doubt he tries that again if Genesis is explicitly on your side. He has to have some shame, right? Eventually you let the humming rise up in pitch. You're happy. Still a little annoyed, but happy. That's what a normal person would feel in this situation, right?

Keep The Face on. Don't cry. You'll spiral downward if you cry. And no one wants to see that.

* * *

Dinner is allegedly eggs and potatoes. You don't remember either having sand in them, though. Definitely more tolerable than the "potato salad" or "spaghetti marinara" from yesterday. But getting food into your mouth is usually an uphill battle and when not even your stomach wants it but your muscles really need it and the hunger is far worse than it usually is, then you've got a problem.

Fine. Whatever. You let Kekoa pick this shit because the man had a plan and you're some blind kid but now you're putting your foot down. And since the self-loathing rose back to anger when Pix wouldn't cuddle you until a very awkward shower under a sixty centimeter tall, low pressure water spicket, well, he's in for it.

"We aren't doing this again."

"Agreed," Genesis adds. Lovely. Starts with Kekoa cornered.

"In Paniola we pick up rice, noodles, whatever. Find seasoning if we can. Keep dried fruit if you two want it. Mince and cook vegetables ahead of time. Toss in nuts or beans or canned meat or whatever for protein."

Kekoa doesn't challenge it. Instead he takes another bite of food and carefully chews it for far too long before swallowing. Power move. Ugh. Men. Him. "First, this is why I insisted on spending two nights on the trail. So we could detect problems like this in advance." Is he really taking credit for this? Why is he being such an asshole, anyway? Do you care? "Second, I can probably win a battle or two and get cheap lunches in town. Take way more condiment and seasoning packets than I'm probably entitled to. Helps if Jennifer gives me cover here. There, spice problem solved."

"I'm glad you agree—"

"_Third,_" he interrupts. "How do you plan on keeping your vegetables cold? Ice packs are heavy as fuck and melt in a day."

{Pix, shoot an ice shard at him. Keep it a little weak.}

You can hear the attack and Kekoa's surprisingly muted swearing. "Point taken. Still heavier than I want to lug around."

"Then I can keep it in my pack," you say.

He laughs. "Oh, like hell you will. You're, what, ninety pounds sopping wet?" You don't actually know how heavy a pound is but the telepathic translation puts it in kilograms. You could argue that, but 'actually that's my dry weight' doesn't seem like a winning case. "No, you'll carry it for half a day, complain about your back breaking, and then put it in my pack."

"I'll take it," Genesis says. "I'm bigger than you and I'm not carrying much so it shouldn't be too hard."

Kekoa doesn't answer. He just gets up and walks away. Eventually the water turns on. He's washing his dishes. Which reminds you that you still have way, way too much left to eat.

* * *

There's another 'thunk' sound behind you followed by a short roll. Fourth this morning.

"Rule #5: Keep your water bottle in your pack when you aren't drinking. Sorry, Gen."

She sighs. "That annoying?"

"Kind of. Sorry. You're tossing it up and trying to catch it, right?"

"Yeah," she responds. Kekoa is being mercifully quiet.

"Maybe you could use a rock or twig or something less loud?"

"Oh. Yeah! That would work. Thanks."

Why is she thanking you? You told her off.

"What's it like out there, anyway?"

"Uh. Still kind of burnt? A little more greenery, though. I think there's a highway nearby."

You'd heard the road. Not busy enough you'd call it a highway. There's also a river somewhere near the trail. "Getting close to Paniola, then?"

"Should be another or hour or two," Kekoa answers. You decide to kill the conversation now that he's joined. You're in a decent mood today.

* * *

Your lunch is interrupted by a long, howling whine going up and down in pitch like a passing ambulance.

"Pix!"

There are loud, rushed footsteps and a "Crap!" said like a curse beside you.

"Jennifer, what the hell!" Kekoa yells.

Pixie keeps screaming.

"Pix!" you yell louder just to be heard. That seems to shut her up, although she grumbles afterward.

_Was helping!_

{I'm sure you were.} "Kekoa, what just happened?"

He stands up and starts pacing. "An eevee showed up to eat the kibble Jennifer put out, your vulpix started screaming bloody murder, the eevee ran away, Jennifer picked up her poliwag and ran into the forest after it."

Oh. Yeah. It's generally not a good idea to run off into unfamiliar woods. Even if there aren't predators worth worrying about. Although momma espeon might give her a psychic headache if she's unlucky.

"I'm going after her. If I call to you, call back." And then he's gone. Into the woods. Without asking permission.

Hypocrite.

"Hey, Pix. Want some food?"

She dutifully trots over, her surface thoughts full of rage words and eevee. You scoop out some of the spam. The flavor's okay. Interesting, even. Texture isn't the best. Maybe it'd be better if you had a chance to cook it. In any case, Pixie seems to like it.

"I wasn't going to catch the eevee, you know?"

She hisses between bites. _No eevee allowed._

"Why, though? Even if I don't own it?"

Her surface thoughts are a jumble of unrelated words. Not useful. Guess? Jealousy playing into attachment issues. She's worried that if you spend time around an eevee you'll like it better than her. time to test that theory.

"I agree. They aren't the best. One of the teachers at my school had one and…" How much self-awareness does she have? You think it's safe to bet on 'none at all.' "She was very pretty, but incredibly stuck-up. Only wanted to talk about herself and make everyone appreciate how cute she was. Thought she owned the world. But she wasn't even that pretty so she was just insufferable. I'd never want to train one." That seems to calm her. She even purrs a little. "Besides, vulpix are the best foxes and I am very smart for a human so I know not to leave one for _an eevee_." You try to pour as much disgust as possible into that word. She seems to buy it. And having a clear job to do as a trained guide fox and portable ice-maker down the line should calm her anxieties a bit. Hopefully even make her amenable to teammates.

It's taking your partners a while to come back. Was there any predator you forgot about? Too far south for bewear, right? Stoutland are more fond of cuddles than hunting. Even the feral ones. Sylveon, maybe? Do they hunt people? Genesis would know better than to tug on pretty ribbons, right?

…right?

No. No she wouldn't. Kekoa probably would, though.

You're pretty sure that Pix fell asleep on your lap at some point. You keep gently stroking her fur. She's so soft. And even if she's sometimes a literal and figurative bitch at least she has a personality. Besides, you're mom's starter was also kind of a pain in her later years. At least to you. And Renfield. Maybe swanna are only kind to the people they imprint on?

Possible steps to a second pokémon: Find a bird egg, when it hatches make sure it imprints on you. Emphasize to Pixie how unkind it would be to take a child away from its mother. ? Profit.

It's definitely not your worst idea. Way better than the "coat a grimer in flour, put it in a refrigerator for a few hours, and tell Pix it's another vulpix" plan you toyed with back in Hau'oli.

There's a distant "marco." You nudge Pix awake. And move to put your pack on.


	9. Did It Hurt?

**Normal 1.9: Did It Hurt?**

_Kekoa_

* * *

It's kinda boring outside the window. Going into Minamo you either wind up on the land side (like your kunane is two rows up and across the aisle) or just staring at water and the occasional island until the very, very end. None of the fun of watching big things go from tiny back to big. It's probably why Hine's ignoring it entirely and reading something on her phone.

Eventually there are ships, then rainforest, and then buildings. That's the other kinda boring thing about Minamo: it's a lot like Heahea or Konikoni. Just bigger. Maybe even bigger than Hau'oli. Your makua kane says that Hoenn is maybe the closest thing in the world to Alola so it must be really boring being stationed there. Nothing new to explore.

The plane touches down with a slight jolt and slows to a stop. Then it spends forever waiting to go to the airport. Then you have to stay in your seat for forever as everyone in front of you (which is pretty much the entire plane) steadily gets out. And then you can finally walk down the aisle and through the weird tunnel and then go to the bathroom and then go through the rest of the airport to the exit. To your Kane.

You beat Jabari to him. By a lot. Like he isn't even trying. Kane wraps you into a hug and picks you up. You were wondering if he could still do that since you're pretty big now.

"There's my darling little girl."

"Kane…" you whine. He knows you hate being called that. Too old.

"Right," he says while setting you down. He walks over to Jabari. "I suppose now that you're an adult you just want a handshake, right?"

He smiles weakly. "I'll, uh, take a hug."

He gets one.

* * *

Less than two days after you arrived, Kane got called away. He said it was an emergency but he didn't know much more. Hopefully it'll be over before you have to go home on Sunday. You barely got to see him at all.

"There's enough money on the shelf for lunch and dinner. I should be back by nine if the ferries are on time. You shouldn't be out then—that's pushing Allana's bedtime. If there's an emergency—"

"Call you. I know," Jabari says while rolling his eyes.

Hine steps towards him and reaches up to put a hand on his shoulder. "I'll just be in Tokusane. I can take the first ferry back if anything comes up. Promise you'll call?"

Jabari nods. "Promise."

Hine gives some final pointers, hugs you, and finally steps outside.

Jabari closes the door and slowly turns back to you. "Want to watch something you probably shouldn't?" You nod. Of course you do! "Good. Don't tell mom." He digs through his bag, pulls out a VCR, and puts it into the player beneath the hotel room's TV.

The movie starts with a bunch of men with guns watching a cage. With something alive in it. Something with big claws that pulls one of the men in. Then there's awful screaming (human and pokémon) and yelling and gunfire.

The screen pauses. Jabari turns to you. "Sure you can handle this?"

"Of course." Wait, when did the blanket get pulled up to your neck?

"Alright…"

The rest of the movie isn't as scary. Until the end. And some of the fossil pokémon look really, really cool! You'd read about them in books and some books even had pictures but it's really great to actually see all of your favorites moving. And hunting. Tyrantrum is incredible! And the aurorus are super, super pretty. Tyrantrum's still your favorite, though. Always has been. Always will be.

No feathers though. That's kinda weird. And weren't tyrantrum scavengers?

At some point it starts raining really hard but Jabari just turns the volume up and everything's fine again. Except when the tyrantrum kills the pyroclaptors and roars at the end, an alarm goes off. At first you think it's just in the movie but then Jabari turns the screen off and it's still going.

You turn to your kunane. He stands up and starts walking to the door. "Stay here. I'll figure out what's happening."

* * *

Jabari comes back a few very long minutes later. He rushes to the counter, stuffs the cash in his pocket and then moves to his bag. "Something's up. They're moving everyone to a shelter. Put your shoes on. We're going."

"You called Hine?" This sounds like an emergency.

He shakes his head. "Tried. Phones are down. Probably best that she doesn't come here if they're sending everyone to a bomb shelter."

"Bomb?"

"Not a bomb. Something else. They wouldn't say." Jabari stuffs some more money from his bag into his pocket and speedwalks to the door. "Put your shoes on. Follow me."

The entire hotel is in the halls. Many people, especially the old ones, are waiting in a massive clump of bodies by the elevator. Jabari presses through them and you follow close behind to avoid getting cut off as the parted crowd smushes back together. The staircase is also busy, but less so. Not so crowded that you're being crushed. Bug definitely enough that the echoes through the cold, plain shaft are almost as loud as your heart.

Darkness. You almost fall stopping yourself on the steps and trying to figure out where to go. Then some light comes back. Just not as bright. Jabari keeps going without so much as a glance back and you struggle to keep up as he goes two or even three steps at a time on his stupid long adult legs.

The emergency exit leads outside. There are cars on the streets but they're all stuck in place. Some have angry drivers adding their honks to the blaring alarms and shouts and sound of footsteps and nervous people. Others just sit abandoned, the owners deciding that it was worth trying to walk through the mass of hundreds—thousands?— millions?—billions?—of people. More people than you've ever seen.

None of that's what really catches your attention, though. That's the heat and the light. It's blinding from above and you have to bring a hand over your eyes just to see anything. But the heat still pierces through. It's the feeling of burning sun on your skin like at the beach, except everywhere and it pierces past the skin. Like your hair is on fire and your blood us boiling. Jabari presses on and you have to almost run to catch up. At first you can do it, but soon you're doused in sweat like you've just had a shower and you're panting like you just ran for an entire recess in the heat.

In front of you a cool glass bridge between buildings starts to groan before the metal twists and the glass breaks and it all falls to the ground. Jabari stops and looks around frantically. A small tremor comes through the ground like the mining company set off dynamite down in the valley. Over the roar of the metal and Earth and alarms and pokémon and people and cars you see Jabari mouth a word with an expression that you've never seen before on his face. "What?" you shout.

That catches his attention. He looks at you, shakes his head, and grabs your arm. Then he ducks into a sidestreet and starts running. Except that there are too many people on the streets. Some are still in shock as the second, bigger shockwave passes by. But some are moving. With you, against you, perpendicular, everything. It slows you down until Jabari's not running so much as slipping through people at varying speeds and jerking you along.

It's not just sweat and heat anymore. You feel… less. Like there should be more you in you. And you want to sit down and drink water and nap. But he keeps pulling with a slightly weaker grip. Eventually the pavement beneath your feet starts to actually burn your soles through your shoes and Jabari rushes to the strips of green at the edge of the street. But so does everyone else.

You finally see the shelter. Or what you think is the shelter. Big and gray. What you can't see are the gates behind the crowd of people pressing in. All in the same situation as you. Or worse. An old woman collapses a few meters away and you move to help before Jabari pulls you in.

She isn't the last person to collapse in the heat as you slowly get closer to the shade and cold. One woman's scarf catches on fire. So do a few buildings. Maybe. It could've been a dream. Sometimes you shut your eyes and open them again when Jabari pulls you or the earth moves a little bit stronger than the last time. At some point you stop sweating. That's probably good, right?

There's another quake. Far, far stronger than anything that came before it. Some of the taller towers tremble and there are crashing sounds and fire hydrants and pipes spewing water across the entire road. It hisses like oil in a frying pain. Another rumble matches the last, this time above you right before the sky bursts open and quenches the heat. It isn't welcome. The raindrops feel like bullets as they hit your skin and it only barely wakes you up. You idly note that the rain leaves actual ripples in the pavement because the asphalt is that soft and the impact that hard.

A loud voice comes from the shelter. Looping over and over again. Your Japanese is only good enough to catch the word "rain" and "closed." Jabari pulls you tighter and he's shaking or you're shaking or the ground is. Maybe all three.

He strokes his hand through your hair and you almost tell him off. But it's just so hard to care. "It's going to be okay," he whispers over and over again like he believes it. You know he's lying; you're eight and you're smarter than you were when you were seven. You close your eyes and breathe, aware of the trembling and the roars and the burns and the bullets but not really feeling any of them.

This is the end.

It's time to go to sleep.

"Good night, Jabari."

_Gods the aurorus were pretty._

* * *

There was a dream. You know there was a dream but you _just_ miss it as your eyes open. White. The world is white. The room is white, at least. Almost blindingly so. You try to sit up but can't quite find the energy. Because as everything in your body starts responding to you again you realize that everything in your body, inside and out, hurts.

You don't know how long you spend alone. Thoughtless. Existing. Staring at the white ceiling. Eventually you must fall back asleep because you wake up again with a nurse over you. She shines a light over your eyes, feels your heartbeat, asks you in heavily accented Galarian if you can speak. You try and a dry croak comes out. You shake your head instead.

There are more questions. You fall asleep. There are more nurses. You fall asleep. Eventually you wake up and there's not a nurse there present. But Jabari is. Badly sunburnt. An arm in a sling. Alive.

You push yourself up to the very limited extent that you can and he rapidly stands and waves an arm. "Hey, don't push yourself."

Jabari's here. Alive. Alone. A thought crashes into your heart. Two thoughts. "Hine? Kane?" you whisper, ignoring the pain in your throat.

He freezes. And breaks eye contact. Arms crossed. "Tokusane was hit pretty bad. Island's built on an old reef. Parts of it collapsed in the tremors and the waves and rain didn't help. But they haven't published a full list of survivors yet. And from the news reports coming in I doubt she would have found a way to contact us yet. So we don't know yet. But she's smart so I'm sure she found a way through.." He sounds like he believes it. He looks like he doesn't. "Dad's ship went down. He still could've survived. There are stories about milotic, gorebyss, wailord, and walrein bringing people to shore."

You hear it. You understand it. You don't quite feel it. Not yet.

He seems to notice and moves to reassure you, voice low and comforting. "Phone lines aren't working in most places. The rest are emergency only. And there are still a lot of emergencies popping up. Even after…"

You would later learn what happened. Volcanic eruptions. Rogue waves. Sunstroke. Hail and lightning. Fires. Entire islands sinking into the sea. Jabari didn't tell you that then. You didn't need to know. He just sat down on the edge of your bed and stroked your hair when the feelings settled in and you finally started to cry.

* * *

The house feels so much emptier with only two people in it. Quieter too. Jabari cooks. Cleans. Does the adult stuff. Sometimes he's at work. It's still the summer. No school. Sometimes the neighbors come over but you never want to play.

He's here now. You aren't alone. Might as well be as he reads the paper and drinks his coffee and you finish up your toast and eggs in silence. They're not as good as Hine made them. And she usually talked to you about your day. Or fussed with your hair. Even when you'd rather she didn't.

Now you'd rather she did and she won't.

Two weeks since you got home. Five since the burning light and piercing rain. The longest and shortest weeks of your life.

Jabari puts the paper down and looks at you. For a moment you weigh whether or not you want him to break the silence before you finally put your toast down and clasp your hands. Meeting his gaze. Waiting. Waiting for something. You aren't sure what.

"I'm joining the army," he says. And the silence shatters. You hear the words. You repeat them to yourself over and over again, figuring out what they mean. What they mean for you. "What happened in Hoenn? Bad people did that. Aqua-dan and Magma-dan. Woke up some gods. Killed hundreds of thousands. Killed Mom. Killed Dad. And there are other bad people like them all over the place. Remember that blizzard in Unova? Or that cruise ship that got lost near California? All bad people. Bad people trying to control gods. And they'll just keep doing it unless someone stops them."

You don't know if any of that's true. You vaguely remember Hine watching a video of some snowstorm on the TV. He says it like it's true. It's not what you care about.

"What about me?" you ask so quietly you're not sure you said it at all.

He breaks eye contact and looks at the refrigerator magnets behind you. "I'm sorry, but this was never going to work. I'm eighteen! I don't know how to raise a kid. I'd just screw it up and leave you worse off for it."

"Then what happens now?"

He stops looking at the refrigerator and pushes his seat back to stand. "The government will find an adult who can take care of you. It'll be better that way. Trust me."

You want to hug him. You want to hit him. Say goodbye before he leaves. Make sure he never does.

In the end you just sit in silence until he goes upstairs.

* * *

It's not the same Paniola you knew, but it's pretty close. The grocery store Miss Smith ran and probably still does if she hasn't died or retired. The arts store Mr. Palakiko owned. You tried to learn the ukulele there one summer until you both admitted that it wasn't to be. You're almost tempted to step into that one. But you don't want to talk about who you've become or find out if he still runs it and, if not, what that means.

No. Best to keep your memories intact.

The butcher shop on the corner of Puna and Ekolu is still there but it has a new name. The playground down Ekolu Avenue is similar enough that if you close your eyes and think with your arms and legs you can almost remember how to get from one end of the playset to the other as quickly as possible if you're being chased. Or chasing. Sometimes both within minutes. You'd always thought of it as its own island and ocean. Now it's some cramped little boat on a tiny puddle of wood chips.

The Pokémon Center finally updated to a more modern design from its old wooden exterior, the unofficial theme of the town. You learned in school that it was to preserve the paniola heritage of this part of Akala. Now you're pretty certain it's a tourist thing. An effective one, too, judging by the people on the streets.

The neighborhood has some differences. The yards and spaces between houses used to be much bigger. Probably. Maybe that's just a consequence of growing up. Or maybe there are more houses.

You reach the end of the road and see it. Is it the same? The same as it was when your parents brought a baby home? The same as it was when the same child walked out of the door with a strange haole man in a suit? You don't know. Can't tell. There's a fence out back. That's new. The walls are the general color of what you remembered and the driveway's on the right side. But if you were shown ten random houses in Paniola you're not entirely sure you'd have been able to pick this one out as your own.

What does it mean if you can't?

The silence is shattered. "Thought I'd find you here."

You grimace and turn. There he is. Like he was, but different. Crew cut. Muscles. A sleeveless jacket like a fucking prick.

"Jabari." You try to keep your tone neutral. For your own benefit. You don't want your homecoming ruined.

"Allana," he replies. Smiling. Like he's a fucking genius. 'Oh, look at me, I can mirror someone's conversational style.' _Grow up. _"You cut your hair."

"So did you."

You half expect an actual tumbleweed to blow by. It is Paniola Town, after all. And you slept in long enough it might very well be high noon.

"Heard you were on a journey," he says. The smile's still there. Gods he can't read the room.

"Yes."

The smile falters. "And, I, uh, I heard it from a coworker. Wish you would've called me. I could've helped."

"You definitely could've helped," you agree in as deadpan a voice as you can manage.

"So, uh," he's finally caught the nervousness. It's almost humorous, seeing some ripped vet looking like a schoolboy asking if his crush likes him. "Why not?"

"Forgot about it." Not entirely a lie. He had slipped your mind until you were in VStar orientation and almost shit yourself when you remembered he worked there.

The smile sort of returns and he uncrosses his arms for the first time and sticks his hands into his pockets. "Oh. Well, I got you a gift. Sort of. It's an egg right now and I thought it would be easier to give it to you once you reach the trial site's center. Probably won't be ready for a few trials but I think you'll like it."

"Already have a team planned out."

He shakes his head and chuckles. "Oh, I think this will convince you to change your plans." You step to the side and walk past him. He falls in step. "So, want to get lunch or something? Heroes Café is still open. My treat."

You honestly don't remember Jabari being this dense. You do remember him being fucking giant but you'd hoped that he would've shrunk like everything else in this town. But he didn't. Even when you're halfway to powerwalking he's just going a little bit faster than normal. Damn him. "My name is Kekoa. Not Allana."

He stumbles. You plow on without so much as looking at him. "Wait, why?"

"Because Allana is a girl's name."

Your head is angled down towards your feet but you can guess what his face looks like. Mouth slightly open and eyes a little wide at first before the mouth closes and the eyes go much, much wider. "Oh." Mouth tilts back and the tongue tests out a dozen words before it finally settles. "You could've told me I had a brother, y'know?" You ignore him. "Hey, can we stop walking and talk? This seems—"

You stop. But you don't turn around. He doesn't deserve that. "Did it hurt?"

"What—"

"Did it hurt? To give the egg? Was their sacrifice?"

"Kekoa, trust me I—"

"No, then." You take a deep breath and turn around to look him in the eye. "I'm going to be blunt because you can't catch a hint. You _had_ a chance to give me the best gift I'd ever been given. You blew it. Went off an ocean away to kill anyone and everyone if it would make you feel better. Maybe it did. Hell if I know. I didn't get that luxury. No one gave a shit how I was feeling."

You keep looking up to his eyes. Ignoring the horrible blurs at the periphery of yours. And the height difference. Is that what you would've been like? Would that be your height, your face, your body if the universe hadn't shit on you?

He breaks your gaze and looks at his feet. Is that shame on his face? It should be. "An—Kekoa. I know. I was… young. Reckless. Immature. I did the wrong thing. But I'm back now. You're on the trail and I was hoping… that…"

Now you've seen it. A man drown on dry land.

You won't throw him a line.

"No," you cut him off "_Maybe _someday when you've given enough that you feel a fraction of what you've put me through, _then _we can talk. But right now…" you try to swallow and realize that he's not the only one drowning. "Right now you don't have a brother."

At least, that's what you meant to say. The knife you meant to stab right into his heart. But it missed. The words were whispered under sobs and the blade slipped and stabbed you instead.

You start running. He doesn't follow.

Damn him.

Damn you.

Damn it all.

Eventually you stop. Not at the Center but at the playground. It's a school day and there's no one there but you.

You find your way to a tire swing you remember curling up inside of, your back curved along the bottom and your legs were pressed out so that your shoes dug into the top. Jabari once ran into the swing going as fast as he could. It knocked you into the air but you pressed your back into the tread and braced your legs and you didn't fall out. Didn't even get sick. Your parents—plural, Kane was home—chewed him out.

Both of you snuck out that night so he could do it again. And again. And again. Until you finally did get knocked out and ripped your skin open on the woodchips. He didn't take you back, just stayed there and pulled out a first aid kit—when and why did he have that?—and pulled out the chips that remained, swabbed down the wound, and covered as much as he could before he ran out of bandages. Then he sat down and told you stories about past wars and heroes and kingdoms and he listened to your stories about dinosaurs and princesses. At some point you fell asleep or he took you back or something. You can't remember how it ended. Or even how your parents reacted. It's just an island of memory in a sea of moments lost to time.

How many moments? For every hour you remember how many have you lost? How many slip away every day? Every month? Every year? There was a moment back in August when you realized that you didn't remember your preschool teachers name. And you couldn't ask your parents because they were dead and you didn't have the number of anyone who still lived here and Jabari.

Jabari was gone. Not dead, but gone. You had his number, sure. But you could never call it. Still can't. Because you relied on him and he broke your trust. Broke you. He doesn't deserve another chance.

And you lied to him back there. It doesn't matter what he gives. How much he hurts. He could blast his fucking brains out in front of you for all you care. It wouldn't undo what he did. He's not your brother anymore. He never will be again.

But you hope he tries. You hope he suffers. You hope he's filled with shame for every waking hour of every day until his soul ascends Lanakila. Because he deserves it.

Damn. Him.

* * *

You drag yourself into the Pokémon Center cafeteria hunched down and walking with short, heavy steps.

"Hey," Jennifer calls and waves. "Where have you been?"

You ignore her. Get your chili and sit down at the table in silence. Near silence. You don't bother putting the bowl down gently and a little sloshes out.

"Who pissed in your punch today?" Kiwi asks.

You take a deep breath. Is she trying to help?. Or is she mocking you while you're down and can't retaliate because you're in public and she's a sympathetic blind girl?

You go neutral. "You have any older siblings?"

Jennifer shakes her head even though the question wasn't even aimed at her. "Two younger. One brother, one sister. Why?"

You ignore that question.

Kiwi feels around for her napkin and wipes her lips. "One brother. A few minutes older than me. Does that count?"

Something clicks. You smile and start to speak, even though some desperate part of your mind knows you shouldn't. "Can he see?"

Kiwi fidgets. "He's sighted, yeah."

You pause and take a breath, emotional pain swelling and subsiding all at once. Sometimes you need to push your head above the surface and breathe. Sometimes you need to push someone else down to do that. Everyone else does it when they need to. Hell, she does it to you non-stop with her girl jokes. Can't say she doesn't deserve it.

"Well, that explains a lot. Let me guess: your brother was the darling child your mom mentored in her trade while you just had to learn shit from the radio. Eventually you got fed up and fled to Alola to show that, hey, you could make it too. Except you get here and you suck ass just like everyone thought and now you're too embarrassed to go home and tell everyone they were right."

"Kekoa," Genesis hisses.

Kiwi just looks down and folds her hands in her lap. When she speaks her voice is low and even. "You should stop talking now."

A threat? You raise an eyebrow. "Or what? You'll cry because you can't handle the truth?"

She closes her eyes. And taps a finger on her thigh. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. Deep breath. Her mouth opens partway and closes.

"Hey, uh, let's maybe calm down?" Genesis pleads. "I saw that the fast food place down the street has $1.50 ice cream. Surely the wallet can take that, right?"

"I'm not hungry, Genesis." Kiwi opens her eyes and looks just past your shoulder. Damn. For being blind her glare game is good. "No, Kekoa. Let me clarify: You need to stop talking before I shove my foot all the way up your vagina."

The wound in your heart explodes and you lose your breath. How did she know? Was it just that obvious? Does she know? Is this another 'you're a girl' 'joke?' Do you care? No. No, she doesn't get to hit you in a weak point like that when she knows you're upset.

"I bet no one even cares that you're gone. Probably glad that someone else is burdened with you."

Kiwi scowls. "Have I told you about Alice?"

Genesis finally snaps out of her stupor and stands up. She wraps a hand around Kiwi's shoulder and gently pulls. "Let's not keep doing this. Cuicatl, let's go upstairs. Kekoa? You started this. Don't be back before midnight."

You don't bother pressing. You already told the damn tourist off. With any luck she'll go back to her own country and only literally rip hearts open. Damn her. Damn him. Damn you. Damn it all.

You finish your chili. All things considered, it's not that bad.


	10. Negotiations

**Normal 1.10: Negotiations**

_Cuicatl Ichtaca _

"Fine." You sigh and run a hand through your hair. You still aren't sold on having Renfield sending you memories but pure curiosity eventually won out. "Show me."

* * *

You hate it when Mom fusses with your hair. Sure it's green just like hers (if a little bit darker) but the texture is from Dad and she has no idea what to do but awkwardly and painfully try to comb it into some semblance of order. You've asked to just cut it short and avoid the hassle altogether but both of your parents are very adamant that you keep your hair long. You'd complain more but someday you'll be on the trail and can do whatever you want with your hair so it's okay.

Mom steps back and circles the table to look you in the eye. "Before we go, I need you to promise me not to use your powers when there are people around." You roll your eyes. This is only the thousandth time you've heard the lecture today. Yeah, it's sunk in. "Promise me," she repeats.

"Promise." Bleh. Whatever makes her happy. And it does make her smile.

"Then let's go."

* * *

On the road out of Nimbasa there's this one place where a road just lifts up into the air and curves over another road. How did they even make it? With pokémon? Which ones? Your mom barely seems to notice as she drives and she doesn't really acknowledge you in the back seat so you just stare out the window and watch the world go by as buildings fade to trees fade to long rows of crops. Then the car slows, the turn signals flash, and you pull up to a big, beautiful red barn.

You jump out as soon as the car is stopped and the doors are unlocked. Then you immediately realize that you don't really know where you're going. Mom takes her sweet time adjusting her makeup before stepping out to join you.

She takes your hand and leads you through the back trails between tall rows of corn. At the gate of the barn there's a ticket booth or something. Mom talks to the lady there for longer than is really necessary before guiding you deeper into the barn. It almost looks bigger than it did on the outside, and it looked really big on the outside. Smells terrible though. Probably the emboar or mudsdale or tauros. Not what you're interested in. No, what you're looking for is waaaaaaaaaay in the very back in a room all of its own.

There's a shallow pool and a few tiny barns behind a short fence. In the pool there are seven beautiful duckletts with another one nestled inside of one of the little barns. You notice that Mom is hanging back and letting you take care of yourself. You turn around and ask, "So can I use…" she nods. You turn back around and grin. Perfect! You never really get to use your powers because Mom's always scared you'll be found out and _something_ will happen and it's sad because sometimes you're walking in the woods with Liz and you can't tell her what the forest is saying.

"Hello~" you sing. Most of the ducklett briefly stop to look at you before going back to quacking with each other.

{Oh boy another one.}

{Why does she have grass hair?}

{Who's leaving today? I nominate Paisley.}

{Well, uh, I nominate you!}

{Not it.}

{Not it.}

{Not it.}

{Oh, she doesn't look that bad.}

The lone dissenter quickly gets drowned out in quacks. Well. This isn't how you expected it to go.

You feel Mom reach out to you and you open up the connection. {Tough crowd, huh?}

You don't respond so much as you radiate disappointment.

{Just keep trying, okay? Sometimes you don't make friends on the first try. Doesn't mean you can't win them over.}

You take a deep breath, puff out your chest, and nod. You are walking away from here with a starter. You can do it. "Hello, friends. I can understand what you say. And I, um, I know you don't like me.

It turns out that ducklett can be rather vulgar. One, the nicest one, just paddles over to the edge of the pool and quacks once. {Say 'seaweed?'}

"Seaweed."

There is an uproar in the pool, loud and constant enough that at some point your power gives up for a bit. Nice-ducklett pulls himself out of the water and waddles over to the fence. And then doesn't say anything. At all. Are you supposed to make the next move?

{Yes.} Mom reassures(?) you.

"Hi," you say. "I'm Nari. Can I be your trainer?"

The ducklett stares at you. {Why?}

Why? What does that mean? "Well, my Mom named me Nari because my Dad's last name was being used so it balanced things out."

{No. Why should you be my trainer?}

This isn't how things are supposed to go. He's supposed to be your starter because you asked and power of bonding or something, right? At least, no one ever told you to plan for this.

"Because I can feed you and make you stronger and take you to a lot of different places?"

The ducklett sits down, pressing out his body into a fluffy feather pancake in the process. {You'll have to do better than that.}

* * *

Yes, your Mom was taught how to negotiate by a four-month-old ducklett. Renfield was always quick to bring that up on the many, many occasions where you failed.

It never seemed to help.

* * *

You were only on Route 5 for three days but after a mix of freeze dried, dehydrated, and canned foods you're perfectly happy to wolf down whatever the Brooklet Hill Pokémon Center's serving. Even if it's stir fry that you could probably do better. Doesn't matter. You aren't cooking it. Hiking brings more hunger than usual and tomorrow you have work to do.

"Has Kiwi's vulpix smelled a paras?" Kekoa asks.

This was labeled as 'spicy' and it barely counts as flavorful. Might be a little habanero, definitely no ghost peppers. To say nothing of the pokémon-derived spices your dad sometimes brought home on special occasions. And you know you aren't too abnormal on this because Jabari had a way higher tolerance than you.

"Has your vulpix smelled a paras?" Genesis asks.

It takes you a few seconds to drink some water, swirl food around and swallow. "Sort of. Took her to an herbal medicine shop in Heahea. They had paras mushrooms." The shopkeeper had said they'd buy one for fifty. Not twenty. VStar's ripping you off. It's infuriating but at least it explains why Rachel pretended to care about you. And you do owe her for the meal. And for Pixie. So you'll suck it up and turn in your paras for twenty apiece at the end of Akala.

"She says yes."

"Good," Kekoa responds. "She going to lead us out into the great unknown tomorrow?"

Genesis sighs. "Are we really doing this?"

Neither of you answer.

"Okay, fine. You going to help find paras?"

You shake your head. And chew. And swallow. "I'll see if Pixie is fine helping you on Wednesday. Tomorrow I have things I need to do alone."

* * *

You wake up before your alarm. That doesn't tell you what time it is. Midnight, 7:29, could be anything. You grab your phone and roll out of bed. Pixie's footsteps dutifully pitter patter after you. Once you're in the bathroom you shut the door, get on the toilet, and press the home button on the phone. "What time is it?" you whisper.

"3:43 A.M." it responds in not a whisper. Great. Just great. You thought you'd figured out how to turn the volume down but apparently not. Cursed computer, atrocious appliance, wretched work assistant, may you never find the path through Mictlan. You almost giggle. Which means it's time to keep going. Malicious machine, scandalous smartphone, damned device, pitiful personal assistant, woe upon those who sleep and those who wake. Wait, is that grammar correct? You've kind of got English down from broadcasts and hearing people say the words while the meaning flashes into your mind, but there's still some esoteric stuff you need your power to cover up. Like woe. And wake.

Focus. Matter at hand. Tomorrow is Cuauthli Acatl. A very good day for what you need to do. Cuauthli is governed by Xipe Totec, a fertility and Spring god. Acatl is ruled by Chalchihuitlicue, goddess of lakes and streams and shaper of your soul. There's hardly a better day to hunt for a plant in a basin of flowing water. Well, hunt for a fungus in a basin of water. Hopefully Xipe Totec isn't too picky about that.

Should you give either of them an offering? You don't think Chalchihuitlicue takes blood; at least, her live sacrifices are drowned. Also usually younger than you which is kind of fucked up. You want the sun to rise and the rains to come as much as anyone else but that can be done with volunteers and war captives, right? And Chalchihuitlicue is maybe the best goddess; she can't actually require that. Someone got it wrong somewhere along the line. Probably explains the drought.

Enough. Doesn't help. Offerings.

No blood.

You could get in the water and hold your breath for a very long time. Problem is that you're not a particularly good swimmer. You can tread water for a bit but you've never spent much time in pools or ponds. If you die you wouldn't catch any paras; at most you'd get a single ghost-type out of it. Not worth it.

Cloth? You haven't sewed anything since you got here. No money for fabric, no time to do it. Well, you'd thought there wouldn't be time. Turns out that when you get to a campsite in the afternoon there's usually a block of time that Pixie won't fill. Late-day sun is hard on her. Poor girl. As if on cue you hear a soft _thump_ on the counter beside you and a chirrup as she settles down. Probably into the sink. In a few minutes she'll inevitably pretend not to understand you when you ask her to get out so that you can wash your hands. So you'll just turn the water on a tiny bit and wait for her to hiss and scamper away. You'll hate doing it but she knew what she was getting into.

Sacrifice, right?

You yawn and stretch until your soul reenters your body. Meh. You'll figure that out in the morning. Now you need to wash your hands. You stand up and idly hope that Pix has caught on to what you're about to do.

She hasn't.

* * *

There's the sound of splashing beneath you as you walk out of the shallows. You rub your feet in the grass until they're dry enough they probably won't blister before putting your shoes back. No blood this morning. Just prayer and fasting in the Western, self-starvation sense. Maybe some of the food at breakfast was unseasoned enough to count as fasting to the gods. You've heard the jokes about American cuisine and they aren't really wrong. But the fasting isn't for the gods, is it?

Shut up. Today is a lucky day. Don't waste it.

"Come on, Pix. Let's find us a paras." She's been quiet. No complaints or questions at all. It's not like her.

The weather's pretty nice. The morning sun warms without burning and there are fewer insects than you'd thought there would be. Hopefully that doesn't apply to the one insect you want to find. More than anything the sound of waterfalls in every direction reminds you of Alice's home when the snowbanks started to melt and the water all ran down the slopes into the valley below. There's so little you miss about home and yet it always seems to reach out and snag you back.

It takes Pixie a long time to smell anything. Over an hour for sure. Long enough that combined with the silence it could make a girl start to wonder. "I really hope we find all five," you say to no one in particular. "Because otherwise I'll have to find another bug. And if I can't sell that one I'll probably just keep it on the team. Wouldn't be so bad having more friends, no?"

Pixie's tracking skills immediately improve.

* * *

"Harrumph." {Stop.} You stop in your tracks.

"Sure this is the one?"

A sneeze. {Of course.}

"Thank you, Pixie. Baby doll eyes for a second, if you will."

The attack doesn't make a sound. You can't be sure if she's doing it or not but it's not too important to the capture. You crouch down.

"Hello there, little guy.". You push the thought into the whisper and try to bring some of the tone with it. There's no response. "Yes, I can let you understand me. And I can understand you."

There's a high pitched chitter and a hiss. {We will fight!} rings in your head in a feminine voice.

Your smile fades for a moment before you bring it back into place, behind your spore-blocking facemask. Where she can't see it. But the cuicalli taught you to act how you want to sound and you'll take any possible advantage you can get. "Why?"

{You're going to eat us!}

You sigh. "No, I'm not. And I can prove it." You switch to telepathic messaging to Pixie. {Ice shard. Be very gentle.} The attack doesn't sound gentle and there's a screech of pain from the bushes. Wouldn't put it past Pix to go for the kill here. Whenever you get a second permanent team member capture is going to get so much easier. Focus. Clear thoughts. Clear feelings. Acting time. Stern with a hint of compassion. "Now that we've established that I could kill you, I am going to refrain from doing so. I have medicine for your wounds here if you want to come out."

Nothing. Nothing for long enough that you start to think the bug died. Then there's an audible rustling and the clattering of spindly legs on the ground as the paras comes right up to you. Very carefully, making sure to keep your eyes locked shut in case the paras tries to shoot out spores in your face, you pull out a potion and spray it at the paras.

{What is that?} the paras asks. Her voice is much more upbeat than before despite being hurt.

"Healing potion. We have better medicine back in our nests. Actually part of why I'm here," you say.

{Go on.}

"I don't want to eat you. But I do want one of your mushrooms. Just one. In return, I will spend several nights protecting you, feeding you, healing you, and making sure that you know how to fight. I will also give you the chance to battle a much stronger opponent than you're used to, one that won't ever kill or eat you and just wants a friendly spar. Then I'll drop you back off here or in a forest up north or, if you want, with another human. That way you come back stronger, closer to evolution, and with some great stories to tell the other paras."

{Are you human?} the bug asks.

"Yes," you respond. "Why?"

{We did not think humans could talk with their minds.}

"Some of us can. Also, I'm sorry if this is rude, but why do you call yourself 'we?'" Alice never really went that route.

{Because there is an insect and two mushrooms in us!} the paras explains.

You process that. "And you're still willing to part with a mushroom?"

{Yes! Especially if we grow stronger! There can only be one mushroom and one insect when we grow.}

"That makes sense." Sort of like Alice. Although ellas kept ellas's other self, albeit in a diminished role. "Is there anything else you would like to know?"

{What is your cold mammal? We've never seen one!}

"She's a vulpix." You reach down to scratch her and she accepts. Would've been awkward if she shut you down. It does show that however upset she is she's still not mad enough to reject scritches. "They live high up on mountains where all of the water is frozen into snow. She is my other pokémon. I am going to keep her forever."

The last part is more for Pix's benefit than the paras's.

{Are you going to put me in one of those strange circles?}

You nod. "Sometimes. When I'm walking long distances and I don't think you could keep up. I do have very long legs, after all." Heh. Never thought that you'd say that. "And I'll let you sleep in the circle at night so predators can't get you. The rest of the time I will let you out to eat, explore, train, and learn."

She pauses to consider that. {And will you give us a name?}

You take the mask off and smile. You aren't entirely sure why she's so on board with this but you don't think she's smart enough to pull a long con to kill you. And if you do die to a mouthful of stun spores, well, at least you'll have some idea how Achcauhtli felt. Except getting betrayed by a fucking paras has to hurt less than being abandoned by your sister and mental roommate when you needed her the most. So, no, you still won't have any fucking clue what you put him through you despicable piece of shit.

You press the feelings aside and smile. "Of course. Let's go with…" you swallow and try really, really hard to make sure that the Nahuatl word comes through and not its meaning. "…Ce."

The paras screeches. In your head. Outside of your head it's more of a weird bubbling sound. You feel her move up onto your shoe and wrap her pincers around your ankle in an insect hug. {So cool! Pokémon-human with ice mammal and healing potions gave us a name!}

Wasn't she worried about you eating her a second ago? Gods above and below, pokémon are weird. Exploitably weird. "Do you have any friends who might want to come with us? I'm looking for up to four more… insects." Insects. Not 'of you' because who knows what that means to her.

{…four… more…} There's a long silence. {Yes! There's one down the river in a sharp bush and one in a big-tooth mammal burrow and one in some tall grass up the river and one behind a vertical river!}

Even your power isn't quite sure what to make of that.

* * *

Kekoa and Genesis are downstairs eating dinner. It was surprisingly easy to convince them to leave you up here; Genesis backed off immediately when you said you were fasting. She didn't even "translate" Kekoa's mocking question-answers. An utterly irrational part of your brain, the one that made you fat, is disappointed that she didn't put up more of a fight.

While you may not be eating today, you still have pokémon to feed. Moss mix and lettuce leaves were much cheaper than Pixie's kibble had led you to expect. Judging by the intermittent bubbling noises below your bed the paras seem very pleased with your purchase. A cheap mat and some slightly damp newspaper make up your impromptu paras shelter, which also seems to be oddly beloved.

At least, beloved by most. The fox in your lap definitely isn't pleased with it, even after a very thorough brushing. You even offered to give her a bath with your shampoo but she hasn't yet decided if she's okay with that. Since you could talk Seerah into taking baths and since heatmor are less vain and more averse to water than vulpix you'd figured it would be an easy sell. Honestly, you're half convinced that she really does want it but she's just denying everything to spite you.

Foolish girl. Mimicking her trainer in all the worst ways.

Dry shampoo. Once you have the money and need to buy a new bottle you'll take that approach. She might agree more readily. Assuming you ever have the money. VStar's ripping you off and you aren't sure if shampoo is covered by the league subsidy.

Focus. There's a task at hand and you really don't want to spiral out on the trail. Not now, at least. It might make Kekoa think you care about his petty bullshit. Fine, sure, whatever, you should've told him that you were going to kick his nuts so hard they popped out his asshole. And you probably shouldn't have confirmed it to Genesis but in fairness she put it together herself well enough. Moreover you just can't find it in yourself to feel sorry for him. Maybe he's been through some shit. Maybe he wakes up everyday and hates his own body. Tough. You've been through the same and don't rip into anyone who tries to help. Not when it's so much easier to just shake your head and run away and leave the pain on the girl who deserves it.

Plan. You had a plan not to spiral. Heh. Dumb enough that you can't even stick to your own plan to convince yourself that you aren't stupid. So, yeah, grand idea. Psychic linkage. Let your pokémon understand each other. Might help Pixie actually grow to like her companions. Or at least humble her a little. Maybe. A girl can hope. And you might as well do it when you can tank a couple days of headaches.

You start to sing. The words don't matter so long as they're words. For some reason your subconscious went with country. Not usually your style but they were playing it downstairs yesterday and it got stuck in your head. Doesn't matter. It'll do. Even if it confuses your pokémon as they try to figure out why you're telling them about the time you destroyed some boy's car. Even if? Forget it, you're sticking with it just for that.

You lie down and close your eyes, which isn't necessary but it's how Mom meditated so it's how Renfield taught you, and reach out. Every word establishes momentary links between you and anything reasonably intelligent that can hear it. Six pings. Five below, one right on top of you. With a little bit of effort you reach out to the one on top and hold a link. Then you scan the ones below. One connection is easier than the others. More open, more experience in using that link. You reach out and feel a triangular flow of energy through and around you. One verse and a chorus left to do. As the song winds down you try and relax, loosening up physically and mentally. It's what you're supposed to do to make shots hurt less and maybe that applies here.

You drag out the final word, take a quick breath, and _snap_ the triangle into place. It immediately feels like something massive struck you right on the forehead and the pain reverberates in steady waves, front to back. Back to front. Front to back. Back to front. You try to focus on the rhythm and not the substance. Because holy fuck why did you do this to yourself? Even with _his_ help you were still bedridden for a week when you did your last team connection.

Front to back. Back to front. Front to back. Back to front. You're aware of Pixie and Ce talking. To you. to each other. You ignore it. You're a tiny boat on the waves. Front to back. Back to front. Front to back. Fuckity fucking fuck. It's not getting better. Maybe even worse with every wave.

At some point the pain becomes too much and you fall into the depths of rest and silence.

In your dreams you drown as your sister watches on.

* * *

By morning the rocking has broken into a thousand tiny waves whizzing around your skull. It's not at all better. You tell Genesis that, no, you can't eat because you're pretty sure that you're going to vomit if you try to do anything but, yes, she's welcome to borrow Pixie.

You could really use someone taking half of your dumb psychic headaches now but you went and let half your brain die so that's on you. As usual.

Genesis comes back and sets down something with a small but unbearably large clattering sound. "I got you water and a banana and some crackers," she whispers. "Kekoa's heading out today but I'm going to stay back and watch over you. Make sure that everything's alright."

You really want to tell her to go straight to hell. Delaying a pokémon adventure to look after a sick friend? Does she think she's better than you? Because she's right. She's normal, even. Most people would do this. Almost everyone. You're the tiny, hideous exception to the rule.

Eventually she coaxes you into eating a banana. You immediately stumble into the bathroom and throw it up. Between this and yesterday she'd be justified in thinking you were bulimic. Which you aren't. You want to be pretty. Or at least less ugly. But even you can tell that there's absolutely nothing beautiful about the act of upchucking your partially digested food.

Genesis tries again in the afternoon. Or what's probably in the afternoon. Impossible to tell with how much you've been in and out of consciousness. You get a few sips of water and a cracker down. That just tells your stomach that it's eating time again and suddenly you have raging hunger complimenting the shootout in your head.

Kekoa slams the door open because of course he does. Has it been that long already? Wait, how long would it even take Pixie to find some paras if she knew that they wouldn't be teammates of hers and success meant getting out of the heat faster. You had been very clear that Kekoa and Genesis were ditching their bugs and that reassured her immensely.

The fox jumps up onto the bed and curls up on your chest. Ugh. She's heavy enough that it's noticeable and her tails are in your face and make breathing a little harder. It would still be altogether wrong to kick her off. You're lucky to have her and you're not going to hate her for being annoying while she's here because then maybe you'll be a bitch and she'll die and, bam, congrats, that's how you'll remember her forever.

At least she's cold. That's nice. And with the food and soda that Genesis eventually got you to choke down you're less miserable than you were this morning. Still overwhelmed by pain and you want to cry but better.

You've shut out other minds to spare you even more pain. You don't bother telling Pixie as she yaps on, no doubt about the many indignities she's suffered since you last saw each other. You smile and whisper "Poor, poor girl." From her subsequent huff of satisfaction and readjustment on your chest so that her nose presses against yours you assume that you showed a sufficient amount of empathy for her suffering.

* * *

When you wake up there are long, spindly legs wrapped around your head.

Something primal takes over. You don't scream. You don't even breathe. Or move. You just stand silent like the spider might think you're a rock. What do? Slap it? Another part of your brain wakes up. Wait, don't you have Pix for this? Where is—

You open up the psychic link and feel the pain of ripped-off duct tape. (A feeling you got second hand from your brother. Still aren't entirely sure of the context there.) A quick location ping tells you that both Ce and Pixie are very, very close to you. You reach up and gently move Ce from your face to your chest.

"Hello, friends," you whisper.

{Hello! Did that help?!} Ce very loudly answers through the link. Second order of business once you get better is teaching that girl (those girls?) how to use her (their? ellas's?) inside-the-head voice.

"A little," you lie. "But it messes with my breathing a little."

{Eep! We're so sorry—}

"It's fine. How'd you get the idea anyway?"

Apology words flash through the surface of Pix's mind. Dammit. Should've known.

You run a finger along Ce's head. Hard enough to be an effective scratch, not so hard that she's likely to be hurt by it. Screw this, you'll figure things out tomorrow. She might move your cane in the morning but you doubt Pix comes up with anything more sophisticated over the course of a few hours.

* * *

Someone jostles you awake. Pix hisses at them and Ce starts clicking her mandibles together. "Stand down. It's fine," you groan. Probably fine, anyway.

"Hey," Genesis says. "How are you feeling?"

You take stock. "Okay-ish. Probably won't leave the room this morning. Might later."

"Good!" She pauses. You hear her feet shift. What's the bad news? "So, um, the nurse does want to talk to you—."

"No," you reply. You know damn well why you have a headache. No need to bring in some doctor to tell you that, shocker, you're blind and fat. And you really don't want the authorities to know that you've got powers. Your grandmother thought that would be very bad. You smile to change topics and deflect. "Thank you for yesterday, by the way."

"Oh, no problem. But I will need Pixie today?" She states like it's a question.

You shift into telepathic messages even though you know it's going to aggravate things.

{Pixie, you up for it?}

She barks. Yes, she is. Probably desperate to redeem herself. You'll tell her that you'll always love her no matter what once she comes back. For now the guilt and fear might increase her performance. She deserves some of it anyway.

"Yes, she's ready to help."

Genesis must've already been dressed and ready to go because she rolls out just a few minutes later.

You steadily get to your feet so you can at least brush your teeth. Once you take the first step the vertigo hits. Both arms fly out and you steadily crouch down. The world is rocking around you and if you just balance a little bit better you might hand on. The sloshing steadily slows. You sit back in bed. Your mouth feels gross but you'll have to wait to fix that.

* * *

You're very rudely woken up for the third time. Gunshots. Before you can properly panic you notice that there's music between the shots. Very loud music.

Just an action movie. Being played very loudly. In your room. While you have a headache.

"Kekoa," you growl. "Turn that down."

"Hmm? Sorry can't hear you," he answers.

{Hey, Ce, mind chasing him around?}

{Of course!}

You can't actually hear her move but you can hear Kekoa's footsteps and swearing before the television turns back off and you're left alone with a worsened headache.

"Come back, Ce." You hear her dutifully scuttle over. You lay an arm down so she can crawl up it and lie on your chest because she was a very brave and good girl(s(?)). Kekoa crashes down onto the bed across from you a second later. Now to deal with the thing that needs dealt with, even though you'd rather not until your headache is just a little bit calmer. "Kekoa, what the fuck?"

He huffs. "If I'm stuck inside watching your ass I at least want to have some fun."

"Not what I'm talking about." You gently move Ce from your chest to your lap and sit up. Bottom bunk is low enough that your feet can touch the ground while you sit. "I meant, 'Kekoa, why the fuck have you been an asshole to me the entire time we've known each other?'"

"Because you've been outing me and poking at my dysphoria, apparently knowingly, the whole damn time."

It's very difficult to keep your voice level as your mind and soul ride waves of turbulence. "Kekoa, I only did that _because you were already being an asshole._" You can hear him open his mouth so you move right on to cut him off. "Détente." You take a deep breath and miraculously he doesn't but in. "If we're trapped in a loop of escalation, we should just stop antagonizing each other."

You hear him shift around. "Explain."

You release part of the deep breath you took. Then you take another. "You—" No, start with what he gains. "I stop misgendering you and don't out you to anyone else. I don't sic my pokémon on you. In exchange, you don't physically hurt me—and that includes shit like what you just did—and you don't bring up my family." Ideally you'd take care of the Kiwi thing but it's honestly rather hard to be hurt by it when it's just so juvenile. Besides, you doubt he'd agree to everything and you'd rather have the physical shit stop.

He doesn't answer. You stroke Ce between the mushrooms because you get the most bubbling when you scratch there. One paras reaches out from under the bed and pokes your ankle. You aren't about to ask aloud if he wants anything so you'll just wait for him to speak.

"Okay," he finally says. "I'll take the deal."

* * *

Thank the gods for sunlight. Both because it keeps the world going and because after so long inside it feels wonderful to have heat soaking into your skin. How long had it been since you went a whole day without seeing the sun? Months, probably. You did most of your grieving outside so you avoided the 'moping in bed all day' thing. You kick your sandals off and rest your soles on the warm pavement just to soak in more of it. Really is a shame that you got an ice-type starter. Makes it harder to justify basking in the midday sun.

Kekoa clears his throat. Right. You're hear for a reason.

You turn around and send out a telepathic signal to Ce and Pix. {Ready?}

A bark and a shriek ring out in response. You'll take it. "Ready whenever you are."

"Go, Sir Bubbles!" Genesis shouts.

"Hekeli." Kekoa does his best to sound bored but doesn't quite succeed. Excitement. Hopefully you can crush that.

Double battle with cross-matchups. Pixie beats Hekeli. Ce beats Sir Bubbles. Sir Bubbles beats Pixie. Hekeli beats Ce. Win condition: Knock out both opponents while preserving one of yours. Sub-condition: End up with 2 v. 1 or 1 v. 1 where you have the advantage. Sub-condition: Do not wind up in the converse situation.

Now it's time to see how you screw this up.

"Begin on three," the kid Kekoa strong-armed into reffing this announces. "One, two, three."

Your pokémon know their initial orders. You don't need to remind them.

"Use bubble, Sir Bubbles!" Genesis proclaims. Huh. Didn't know he'd learned that. Not that it really changes your strategy at all.

"Get in there and rock smash the vulpix!" Kekoa shouts.

Okay. The alternative plan. You whistle and send in a telepathic message. That way they think that you've just taught your pokémon to understand whistles or something.

It's very difficult to track what's going on by sound alone. But with your opponents' orders and occasional reports from your pokémon you can mostly keep up. At least, you're pretty sure that the battles goes something like this:

Hekeli dives for Pix and lands a solid blow. Both take a stun spore. Ce intercepts the water gun and doesn't care at all because she's a paras. Some parasect can take powerful water attacks and use it to heal themselves. Even if she's not on that level yet, she's still quite capable of taking a poliwag water gun. Anyway, it went about as well as you would've expected.

"Advance!"

Ce slowly moves towards Sir Bubbles with her eyes shut. The opponents try to switch targets. Pixie takes at least one water gun but a verbal warning and competition with Ce keep her from freaking out and breaking from the plan. She fires shot after shot at Hekeli. Kekoa keeps pushing on so you give two sharp whistles and Ce shoots poison powder into the air.

"Rock Smash the vulpix," Kekoa orders. Good. Back to the matchups you want. There's a _crack _as Hekeli slams into Pixie. Wait! No!

{Bird hit the pavement.} Pixie growls before unleashing a furious barrage of ice shards. The ref calls the knockout on Hekeli a second later.

"Alright, Sir Bubbles! Use—bubbles!"

Both of your pokémon can take bubbles. "Baby doll eyes and absorb."

You aren't sure how close Ce is to Sir Bubbles at this point. Maybe she's already on top of him. She's a fast scuttler. Baby doll eyes is a distraction to keep Sir Bubbles in one place so that Ce can start draining. If she takes the bait—

A snap. "Hypnosis on Pixie!"

She took it. Pixie wasn't doing much more anyway and this just gives Ce time. {Poison powder.} A simple move here or there could plausibly just be something she thought up on her own. She's a clever mushroom bug. At this point there's very little you can do but withdraw Pixie and wait for the battle's conclusion. Is there anything Sir Bubbles can do to win the damage race against Ce?

There isn't.

"The winner is Cuicatl Ichtaca."

Wait.

Holy shit.

Did you

You won?

You won!


	11. Local, I Hope

**Normal 1.11: Local, I Hope  
**_Kekoa_

"Should've brought a jacket," you mutter.

Manollo scoffs. "Fucking told you. Colder here than anywhere else in the islands."

Certainly colder than anywhere on Akala. And you would know. You went to six different schools there ranging from North Point to Konikoni. You thought it was tolerable here. Turns out that daytime on the coast is different from night at the base of Mauna Lanakila.

"What are you even taking me to?" You leave unsaid: 'And why is it worth sneaking out and maybe getting kicked out of yet another home?'

"Almost there. You'll see."

True to his word, you do see once you get to the top of the next hill. A gathering of maybe a hundred people holding flickering lights in front of the mountain's lift system. As you get closer you realize something else: a lot of those people are wearing black and red clothing. Most are covering part of their face, even the ones who aren't wearing skull colors. Shit. You glare at Manollo. It's not that you oppose the skulls on principle but you've had some bad run0ins. Being kanaka won't necessarily save you from a rowdy teenager who's heard one side of a story and wanted to kick someone's ass.

Manollo waves you off and comes to a halt at the edge of the group. You reluctantly stop and stand beside him. Just look like you belong here. Someone in a full, old-school skull uniform comes up to you and hands you a candle. You reach out your hand and take it so that you don't look too unsure of what you're doing. The man lights it and moves onto Manollo.

Before you can whisper-ask what you just walked into the few hushed voices in the crowd are silenced. You can see someone climb up the steps towards the lift at the front of the crowd. Black crop top, short shorts, and long multicolor hair. Yeah, you recognize her. Hard not to.

Plumeria turns to face the crowd. Then she just sits down on the top step. When she speaks, her voice carries very well. "Once Pele and Nāmaka had shaped the world, the Sun and Moon looked down and found it empty and themselves lonely. Together in their divine knowledge and power they created man. But the Sun grew fearful as his creation multiplied and innovated. He cast them down the slope of Mauna Lanakila until they arrived on the earth. That was still too close for the Sun and he refused to shine on the islands so that the humans would die in the darkness.

"Nu'u, ancestor of our people, appealed to the masses and calmed their fears. They used what little they had to build altars and provide sacrifices to the gods. Five gods answered. Tapu Bulu provided the wood for a fleet of canoes. Tapu Lele provided knowledge of how to build them. Tapu Fini provided knowledge of the seas. Tapu Koko provided the courage and resolve to make the long voyage ahead of them. As for the Moon, she provided a map to guide mankind across the waters.

"In time, the Moon could no longer stand to see her children living in exile. She provided the descendants of Nu'u with a path back across the sea to the seat of the heavens. When the Sun saw mankind return he was outraged and the Moon grew distraught. But clever Tapu Lele had a plan. As the Sun descended the slopes of the Mauna to smite his children, they offered him a gift, not of gold or fruit or blood, but of song and dance. They told the Sun of their lives in exile. They told the Sun of their journeys across the waters. They told the Sun of their love for him, the Moon, the Tapus, and the earth itself. They told of sorrow and joy, war and peace, love and hate and the Sun was moved. Without a word he turned around and rose back up the mauna."

"The Sun entrusted the earth into our care. The Moon gave us a future in the heavens. Her oracle birds guide our souls to this point. The children of Poli'ahu take us the rest of the way so that the Moon may take us into her wings and usher us into our next adventure."

Plumeria pauses and rises to her feet. You blink in surprise. You've heard the story enough but her charisma and the mauna behind her added new meaning and sucked you into the story until the cold and skulls ceased to exist. "So it was." The words hang over the assembly until the faint echoes stop and silence reigns. No one dares break it until she does. You don't even breathe.

"The rest of mankind came to our garden. They poisoned the roots of our plants and our spirits. They conquered our kingdom. They subjugated our proud people and made us strangers in our own lands. That did not satisfy them. They built telescopes on Pele's mountain to study our stars. That did not satisfy them. They built a throne above our ancient altar, at the point where the heavens meet the earth. Where our father banished us and our mother welcomes us. They installed an ali'i of their own. That did not satisfy them. No, they could not merely have our mother's home. They had to subjugate our mother as well. This will not satisfy them. They will take and take and take to fill the void in their hearts where alola should be." She pauses again and inhales. "WILL WE LET THEM TAKE MORE?"

A cry of cheers, "NO!"s, swears, and seemingly pointless screaming rises from the crowd. You're pretty sure that you get caught up in it but you can't even hear what you're saying.

Plumeria raises her hand and the noise abruptly stops. "Damn right we won't."

* * *

The Route 5 Trainer's Stop doesn't have the uniformity of a Pokémon Center. It's just a long, wooden building with a wooden porch running the distance. There's a normal-looking house across from it made of brick and wood and a few tiny cabins are down the hill out back. Much better than a doctor's office with some bedrooms.

You walk into the main building. It's split into three parts. Something like a dining room to the left and a small shop through the right. There's only one attendant, female, haole, probably early 20s, staffing the desk.

"Welcome to the Trainer's Stop. You looking to spend the night?"

You step up because Kiwi can't read paperwork and Jennifer will just idle forever and shift nervously and pretend like she's got no social power at all. Plus sometimes you feel like you're the only one with a clue what's going on. "Yeah. Looking to stay two nights."

The receptionist starts typing. "Just the three of you?"

"Yes."

"Alright." She stops typing and gives you a smile that looks more fake than not. "May I see your trainer cards?" You hesitate but then hand yours over. The name isn't yours anymore. The picture has longer hair. Maybe she'll reject it. Hopefully she'll reject it. Can't be this boy in front of her.

She doesn't.

"You'll be in Cabins 3 and 4. Shower tokens are good for about seven minutes. Cleaning supplies are in the closet, make sure to clean up your cabins before you leave. Are any of you willing to help cook?"

Kiwi raises her hand like a preschooler. "I am."

The receptionist looks at her for a long time. "Are you sure?"

"I've done all of my family's cooking for years. Yes, I'm sure." Huh. She has a decent glare game. Cataracts probably help a little since it's damn hard to keep eye contact with her. Not that you'd give her the satisfaction of knowing that.

"Alright. Uh, report here at 4 P.M., 6 A.M. and 11 A.M." Her cheeriness returns as she speaks. "Anyone willing to clean up before or after meals?"

"I'll take after. Genesis can take before." Not interested in getting up early.

"Alright. Genesis, please come up a half hour before meals. Breakfast is at eight, lunch at one, dinner at 6. There's usually something around the fire pit at 9 P.M if you're interested. I'll let Uffe and Eleanor explain more at dinner."

* * *

The cabin's small, just a six by six entry area with a desk and a sink and then a tight bedroom with two small beds. Perks of being a boy: you get the place to yourself for two days while Jenny and Kiwi have to share a bedroom not much bigger than the tent.

You set your stuff down and pull a towel off the rack. Now that you're in civilization your first priorities are getting a shower and washing your clothes. Yeah, you're a guy now but you aren't in a rush to give up basic hygiene.

There are trumbeak singing nearby. Should you let Hekeli out while you shower? There are talonflame here and she never had to deal with those on Ula'Ula. Would she know what to do? No, you'll let her out later when you can watch her uninterrupted. You aren't going to lose your only pokémon.

Shower time. Now, the eternal question: which shower to use? Are your clothes too tight? Would anyone notice if you went in the men's side? Are you willing to risk getting caught alone and feminine in a room full of stronger guys? Girl's side isn't much better. You hate it but if you raised your voice up a little you could 100% pass as a butch lesbian. No, the problem there is the aftermath. The little validation to dysphoria. The reminder that even on your best day you still look like a girl and you know it. Plus you have no idea how you'd start explaining the choice to Jennifer. Honestly you probably wouldn't. Might punch her. And you've agreed to stop doing that sort of thing. Actually maybe you haven't. The agreement was only between you and Cuicatl.

You step into the men's room and dart back towards the showers. No one here. No need to panic. You still close the curtain, strip, turn the shower on, get in as fast as you possibly can. You take a quicker shower than you want. Partially out of fear, partially because it's really not the best idea to dwell under water as it runs over your many curves.

* * *

An older kanaka couple come around to the table. You stop eating and Genesis follows. Kiwi very belatedly does as well. "New faces in camp, I see," the man says.

"Yeah," you answer before Jenny can fuck it up. "Just got here this afternoon. My name's Kekoa, that's Genesis, and that's Cuicatl."

The woman smiles. "Yes, I've already met Miss Ichtaca. She has some wonderful recipes she's offered to show me tomorrow."

Kiwi awkwardly shifts. "Right. Thank you again for letting me cook. Sorry if I slowed it down…"

"Hush dear. The pleasure was all mine. Oh, I forgot my manners! My name is Eleanor and this is my husband Uffe. We're the hosts of the camp."

"Hi, nice to meet you," Jennifer says. "Is the dining room usually this, um, empty or…?"

Uffe sighs. "No. Usually this is peak season. But there was the blacepholon back in August when a lot of the kids who started after the school year in Hau'oli finished up Melemele and would've come to Akala. Scared 'em off to Ula'Ula. Couple of trainers at the end of their challenge, a handful of VStar folks, and a few late starters but it's been a quiet month.

You move on before Jennifer can fuck up and dig into the VStar point. "That's a shame. Always liked Akala."

He smiles. "Well, you've got good taste then. So, what'cha planning to do tomorrow? We like to make sure that everyone's doing something productive while they're here. Your friend's gonna be in the kitchen but I don't reckon' you two are going to join her."

Jennifer shakes her head. "No. Um. I can, um. I don't know. What needs done?"

"Oh, bathhouse always needs cleaned. Or dishes. Or laundry. Or any number of things. Work just keeps piling up around here," Eleanor answers.

You interrupt before that conversation can spiral into a million rounds of 'oh, no, I couldn't possibly, please, you pick.'

"I heard that there were grubbin nearby. I would like to look for one, if you would let me."

Uffe smiles. "Of course. Darn bugs keep eating the roots in the garden. Now, you have a way to find a grubbin or are we going to have to do this the old way?"

You inhale. Moment of faith. How closely is Kiwi going to hew to the spirit of the agreement. "Pixie fought a grubbin back in Hau'oli, right?" You remember. You watched it. She got her ass kicked and continued a long, inglorious tradition.

"Yes," Kiwi responds.

"Can I borrow her tomorrow?"

She shakes her head. "No." Wait. What? Is she going to fucking fight you on this?

"Why not?"

She grins. Her dumb sly grin that says she's about to do something. In front of adults? Really?

"Because Kiwi doesn't own a vulpix. Cuicatl Ichtaca does and she might if you ask real nicely."

Why? Why does she have to bring that up, context free, in front of fucking authority figures? They'll get the wrong idea and she knows it. So much for the goddamn truce. But you need the grubbin. You'll figure out how to get revenge later.

"Cuicatl Ichtaca, can I borrow your vulpix tomorrow?"

Her unbearable smile gets even wider and she rapidly shakes her head. "See, that wasn't too hard, was it?"

You almost flip her off, adults be damned.

* * *

"How'd your friend get a keokeo?" Uffe asks.

"Starter. Gift from some rich breeder."

Pixie—and isn't that a shitty name—knows she's being talked about and occasionally pulls her nose up from the ground to make sure that only nice things are being said about her. Uffe always shoots a smile her way and she purrs and looks back down.

"Local, I'd hope?"

You shake your head. "No. She's some tourist from Anahuac here because her Mom was some bigshot back in the day and she has dreams of glory or whatever."

He gives you a strange look. Not quite sympathy. "I meant 'did she get it from a local breeder.' As a joke."

"Oh." Pixie paused for a moment and you almost trip over her by accident. She looks at you like apologies are demanded and you offer them profusely because you're not a monster. "Wait. Do they even breed keokeo here?"

Uffe shrugs and starts walking again when Pixie does. "One breeder down the road has a male ninetales paired with a glaceon. Don't think anyone's got a female on Akala." Pixie lowers her tails sniffs the ground and for a second you think that maybe she's found something. Then she props a leg up, pees, and moves on.

"Mr. Radcliffe, right? He's the ice-type trainer?"

You get a smile in response. "Yes. You live around here?"

"Sort of. Grew up in Paniola Town. He came down sometimes around the solstice. Seemed nice enough."

His smile grows wider. "He absolutely is. Gentlest soul in these here parts." Uffe stops walking and turns to you. "Sorry if this is too personal, but it doesn't sound like you like your partner much." You shake your head. "Then why travel with her? It's a big commitment to spend months in close quarters with somebody."

You don't want to tell him you work for VStar. He seems cool and you don't regret your path—you did what you had to do to break another system—but maybe he wouldn't get it. "Weird coincidences. Might ditch her at the end of the island. We'll see."

"Alright, then." You meet his gaze and find that he's looking you over. For a second you wonder if he read you but then he looks away. Not angry. Or disgusted. But intrigued. "Tell me more about your partner then. You said she's got a famous mom?"

"Sort of." She had mentioned that her mom was a trainer. Maybe. Pretty sure you wouldn't have just made that up. And it explains why Miss Bell gives a solitary shit about her.

"You catch her last name?"

"Ichtaca. I think. They don't really have last names in Anahuac. Her mom's Unovan though so it could be anything."

He nods. "Makes sense. Rare starter and all. I take it she has all the other advantages her mom could give. TMs, a pokédex, top-tier camping gear, personal training in battle strategy?"

You laugh. And then catch yourself. He seems to like this tourist bitch for some reason. And you want him to like you. "No. None of that. She's poor as—she's very poor. Apparently. Didn't have any gear. Sucks at battling."

Pixie barks and wags her tails. She points her snout down before glancing up at you and then pointing her snout down again.

"Well, that's your cue. Send out your pokémon and dig."

It's hard to tell if you're shoveling too fast or not fast enough. You don't want to let the grubbin get away but you also don't want to accidentally push a shovel through its shell and kill it. "Slow down a bit," Uffe eventually says. "You're at the depth they usually hang out. Just scrape a little off."

You see yellow. That's good enough for you. in one motion you jump backwards and cast the shovel aside. "Hekeli, echoed voice!"

Your pikipek stirs to life and fires a shockwave into the hole. Rather than dig deeper the grubbin slowly unburies itself and lifts its head to the sky just in time to take the second hit right to the face. It doesn't seem to care and a cloud of dirt rockets into the sky a moment later. Hekeli dodges the earth and throws out another shockwave. This time the grubbin really seems to feel it and you think you can see it retreating a little bit into the ground. That won't do.

You reach into your pocket, prime the pokéball, and throw it. There's a flash of red light as it connects and the grubbin is sucked in. A small 'thud' as it falls deeper into the hard earth. Then shaking. And a click. You caught your second pokémon!

Uffe claps. Too fast to be ironic. "Congratulations." And that feels good. Being praised for something by an adult. A kānaka maoli adult. How long has it been? Two years? Three? Probably Mr. Perkins. Seventh grade at whatever middle school you were in that semester.

"Just a grubbin." You say. Can't let your ego get too big over a bug. However much you want it.

"Yeah. But someday it'll be a vikavolt. And I've never heard anyone say '_just_ a vikavolt.' Congrats on the first step to an awesome insect."

"Yeah." You're beaming. You shouldn't be but it feels nice. Hekeli warbles and lands on your shoulder. You give her headpats. She did a good job. She can stay out on the walk back to the shop. And you'll see if you can find her some worms at a decent price. Although maybe you shouldn't be rewarding her with bugs right now. That could end badly.

Uffe starts walking back to his home. You follow. "Now, not to rain on your parade or anything, because that was great and you should be proud, but there's something else we should talk about."

You frown but keep pace. "Go on."

"Your partner. Now, I might be off base, but," he waves his hands in front of him, "just hear me out. Teenage girl comes from Anahuac. War-torn, impoverished, theocratic country that people are streaming out of. She comes alone with no money. Or experience. Or resources. Says that her mom is someone famous from The States. Won't specify who her mom is and the story doesn't check out. Now, she could be telling the truth. Or." He looks at you and gauges your expression for a moment. "Or she's a refugee who just got out of hell, knows no one here, and is telling stories to impress the only people she's met."

You grimace. Yeah. Maybe. It wouldn't change anything. "She still came to our country when she has her own."

He hums for a moment. Not quite answering but still conveying disapproval. "What causes a person to get up and move across an ocean to a strange place with strange people and no guarantee of food, shelter, or safety? How bad does your life have to be when that's your best option?" Uffe sighs. "I get it. I was a radical when I was your age. Still am. But she doesn't sound like a monster. Just sounds like she needs Alola. Lower and uppercase."

"Not obligated to give that to tourists," you mutter. Radical? He claims to be a radical? While coddling settlers he's never even met?

"Of course you're not obligated to," he responds, somewhat exasperated. "But I think you're looking at a potential friend and automatically thinking the worst of her." You've finally reach Uffe's home. He extends a hand to you and you shake it. Reflexively. Not sure if you would've still done it if you'd had time to think about it. "Just some advice from a man who's been there. You don't need to take it. Congratulations again on the grubbin."

He's holding the shovel. You forgot about the shovel. Why'd you let him carry it when you were the one using it? "Thank you for your help."

Uffe laughs. "Oh, I don't think I did much of anything but go on a walk through the garden. But thank you for the thanks."

* * *

You pass by the girls' cabin on the way back to yours. Kiwi's out front in a patch of sunlight with Pixie curled up in the shade, four paras around her, and one sitting on her head like a hat. You have to stop and make sure that, yes, she really does have a fucking paras on her head. Isn't she worried about spores and shit?

"What are you doing?" you finally ask.

"Meditating," she answers.

"No, I meant what are you doing with the paras on your head."

"Meditating. With a paras on my head."

"Why?"

She frowns. "It's good for focusing. Don't you do it?"

Of course you do. Sometimes. When you remember. And someone makes you. "But why is the paras on your head?"

"Because she wanted to be closer to the sun."

The head-paras chirps in response.

Well. There's your answer. How did she know the paras wanted to be closer to the sun? Why did she agree? Who knows? Certainly not you. And at this point you'd rather not ask.

* * *

You settle down in a secluded area near the cabins. After taking a deep breath, you hold out your arm and whistle. Hekeli flies in from gods know where and perches on you a moment later. Alright. Taming time. You prime, aim, and release the pokéball.

The grubbin forms a second later. You deliberately puff yourself up to make yourself larger and throw your voice down in pitch. "Hello, I'm your new—" A string shot hits you right in the face. Hekeli moves and you can hear a fight break out. You half-consciously withdraw the bug and bring a hand to your mouth to assess the damage. Damn it. Webbing everywhere. Is it water soluble? It had better fucking be.

* * *

It isn't. You still manage to get most of it scrubbed off before the water stops flowing.

* * *

"You have something on your mouth," Jenny says as soon as you sit down. You ignore her bar a simple "mmm-hmm" and look down at your plate. Tamales, rice, and beans. Definitely Kiwi's thing. You take a testing bite. It's actually pretty—holy shit your fucking mouth is on fire. You quickly grab your glass and pour down as much water as you can.

"I labeled the ones without chili sauce."

Before your mouth cools enough that you can retort that, no, you labeled them as "hot" and "mild" not "atomic" and "mild," Jennifer butts in. "It's still there, Kekoa. Just little white strands around your mouth."

Kiwi snorts and almost chokes on her water. You consider flipping her the bird before catching a glimpse of Uffe in your peripheral vision. Blind or not it would've been satisfying.

Jenny blinks. "Wait. What did I say?"

Kiwi finishes coughing and waves her hand to dismiss the subject. "I'll tell you when you're older."

* * *

Something licks you on the forehead.

You press yourself up and whirl around to find yourself face to face with a very cute white fox. She barks at you in response. Rather loudly.

"Pix, quiet down!" you hear whispered through the trees. A moment later you watch Kiwi's cane absolutely brutalize the plants on either side of the path. It's not that you think people like her should never go on the trail. But if they're going to do shit like that to nature then, yeah, they should stay home.

Kiwi stops a few feet away from you, crouches, and holes out her arms. The ice fox huffs, turns around (hitting you in the face with her tails), and dutifully allows herself to be held. Then Kiwi just stands there. Right by you. For an uncomfortable amount of time. You hold your breath because you really don't want to deal with her right now.

"I know you're there, Kekoa," she says. Shit. How? "You know that blind people have super hearing, right?" The internet disagreed, but ugh, the internet is wrong sometimes. She sits down cross-legged when you don't answer. Her keokeo curls up in her legs and glares at you. In the moonlight Kiwi's harshest features are softened a bit. Brings her up from a four to a five. "What are you doing awake?" she asks.

"What are you?"

She shakes her head and glares two feet to your right. "I asked first. But I was just going to the bathroom when Pix found you."

You're tempted to tell her to fuck off because she has no right to know what you're doing, but you get the sense that it could get loud and wake up other people and maybe get you banned from these places in the future. "Watching the stars."

She blinks. Surprise? Normal blinking? Do her blinks even _mean _anything? "Looking for omens?"

"What? No. Just looking at them." You hold up a hand and trace the sky even if she can't see it. "The constellations form a curve and lines. A map. They led my ancestors here." You press yourself up a little bit so you're back isn't on the ground. "You use them to tell the future and shit?"

It's hard to tell with the light and the cataracts but you think she rolls her eyes. "_I _don't use them. But the priests do."

"No." You keep your voice hard. "Your priests use the stars in Anahuac. These are _my_ stars. There's a difference."

And it sounds like a tiny difference but it matters. There are so many settlers now that you can barely see your stars on parts of the island. And even if Kiwi doesn't plan to stay she'll still go home and tell her friends who will fucking swarm your home and poison your waters, burn your forests, build on your mountains, and banish your stars. Because they aren't their waters, their forests, their mountains, or their stars. And when your home is destroyed they'll just go back to theirs.

Kiwi is silent for a second as she maybe finally _gets it_. But the moment passes and she shakes her head. "Kekoa, I'm not going to steal your stars."

You snort. "You already have." You don't bother waiting for her to answer. "When Alolans die the murkrow guide them to the base of Mauna Lanakila. And then the ninetales meet with the soul and guide it to the top. To the stars. And then they navigate the stars to their next home. You took a vulpix. You've making it harder for me to reach my stars."

For another moment you think that she finally understands. But then she just looks down and ruffles her keokeo's ears. "I didn't take her. She was taken, abandoned, and then I adopted her." She frowns and scrunches up her face. "Would you rather your psychopomps be alone, miserable, and off the mountain or loved and cared for off the mountain?"

…

That's a half-decent point. But it ignores the big picture. "Yeah, but you don't understand this place. You're just going to keep doing it over and over again and then go back home with a half dozen sacred pokémon."

She sighs. Like you're a child who needs appeased. "I understand where you're coming from. Really. If you walked into Anahuac and walked out with a hawlucha, axlawful, and pantherma I'd be, well, first off you'd probably be dead." She laughs nervously. "Treason to take any of them without the tlatoani's say-so and treason's the fastest way to wind up staring down your still-beating heart."

"Holy shit. TMI."

Kiwi frowns and slouches a little bit. "Sorry. Gallows humor is a big thing in Anahuac. We don't really hide from death. No point. It won't just go away if you ignore it." There's something there at the end. Real emotion. Sadness? Anger? Both? She moves on before you can fully process it. "Anyway. Yes, I understand what you want. I think that we can make a deal here as well."

"I'm not compromising on that," you say as sternly as you can so that she gets the point.

"I said deal. Not a compromise. Deal both people are happy. Compromise neither are."

You narrow your eyes and try to look into hers, but she's looking down and away from you. "Go on."

She sighs again and moves her arms behind her so she can lean back on them. "You can tell what nature's saying by the winds and stars, right?"

"Among other things."

{I can listen in a little more directly.}

Holy. Fucking. Shit. Was that—

{In your head? Yeah.}

You glance at her. "Do that again."

{Again?}

Her lips don't move. Whatever she's doing it's not ventriloquism.

"What is that?"

"I'm psychic," she says (mercifully aloud). "Language based. I can understand what other people are saying and make myself understood."

"And you can read my mind?" you ask.

She shakes her head. "Not really. I can tell what words are on the tip of your tongue but nothing deeper. Well. I guess I know what languages people speak. Or at least what language my words are getting translated into."

"And how do I know that part is real?"

Kiwi turns to look directly at you. "Can you describe my accent, please?"

Her accent? It's… perfectly neutral. Utterly unremarkable. Nothing you'd ever thought about at all. That's weird, right? If she grew up in another country.

"I actoly sond like tis."

You blink. And blink again. "The fuck?"

She laughs. It's a very good laugh. Is that also an illusion?

"I know, night and day right?" she says with a perfectly neutral accent again. "I can speak a little better if I concentrate but I seldom have to, so why bother? As for your unspoken question, yes, my voice is naturally like that. Years of music education and singing to myself."

The bigger picture pieces itself together as the shock wears off. That's not just a parlor trick. "And you can talk to pokémon?"

Her lips press together for a moment. "_Most_ pokémon. Dark-types give me trouble. Had to learn draconic to properly talk to my mom's hydreigon."

Somehow 'Hold up you can speak to fucking dragons?" isn't the question you want to ask the most. "That's how you get along so well with your pokémon. You're not a savant or anything, you can just talk to them."

"Pretty much. Doesn't always help. Some pokémon are jerks. But it does give me an advantage."

Next follow-up: "What does Hekeli say about me?"

Kiwi shrugs. "You're okay. She's very interested in my voice, though, and your battle practice is starting to bore her. Mix training up and play some music around her. Then you should be good. Otherwise she might defect." She says that so naturally that you aren't even sure if it's a threat. "It isn't. Just an observation. Oh, I can talk to your grubbin if you want. Worked well enough for the paras."

"Is that the deal? You get to walk out with whatever so long as I benefit?"

"No, it wasn't. The deal was that if I plan to put a pokémon on my team for longer than it takes to hand them off to VStar, I have to get the pokémon's consent before doing so. That way I won't just take anything from your home. Is that enough respect or…?"

Part of you doesn't think that it is. She's an outsider. A tourist. She doesn't get to take your sacred pokémon. But if you really care about the pokémon you should also respect their choices. And she got a keokeo to trust her. And it's selfish but she could really, really help you with your own goals. If it breaks the entire damn colonial system you can tolerate one girl taking a few stars.

You stand up. "You said you had to go to the bathroom, right?"

She smiles sheepishly and moves some hair off her forehead. Probably reflex. It was really long at orientation. "Yeah. I was going to have to end this soon if you didn't."

You nod, even if she can't see it, and start walking back to your cabin.

"Good night, Pixie. Good night, Cuicatl Ichtaca."


	12. Egg

Content Notice at the bottom of the chapter.

* * *

**Normal 1.12: Egg**

_Genesis_

* * *

_Before . . ._

Cuicatl pulls the kibble out of her bag and starts to pour it into her tiny collapsible fox food bowl. You walk up and she pours you a handful without missing a beat. "Thank you," you say. Then you take it to the edge of the clearing and leave it in a small pile.

Wait. Do eevee even eat kibble? Mom never let you have one. You'd assume they'd eat the same thing as vulpix. But eevee also have weird DNA and look kind of like rabbits so maybe they'd prefer carrots?

"Do eevee actually like kibble?" you ask.

"How the fuck would I know," Kekoa answers as he strolls back into the clearing.

You glare at him. He didn't need to be mean about that. It's lunch time, not fight time. You take your pack off (its light enough you'd honestly forgotten you were even wearing it) and take out your apricot sausage. It's basically just slices of apricots with little flakes of nuts and vegetables in it. You remember really liking apricots as a kid but now the taste is… weird. Or maybe they're just over-processed. Still getting used to eating food that doesn't really taste like food. The Pokémon Centers are usually good about that and fake is better than inedible but sometimes it catches you and it just feels weird to put junk into your body.

Kekoa tosses you a packet of crackers. He and Cuicatl have small remoraid cans. You'll definitely pass on that. Even when you ate meat remoraid always just smelled wrong. And that texture. And color. It's more like grey sludge than food. Apparently your companions disagree and Pixie isn't above slyly begging for some, even if he—she, even if she hasn't quite figured out how to slyly beg to a blind girl.

Pixie. Vulpixes. Foxes. You glance back to the kibble pile and—Deer. Of Life. There's a cute, furry, perfect little bunny fox. Right near you. Easy. Calm. Excitement later. You reach down to your belt and slowly unclip Sir Bubble's ball. You almost shout "Let's go make a friend!" but wisely decide not to. Sir Bubbles appears in a flash of red light. And immediately starts yipping at you while thumping his tail on the ground. A finger flies to your lips and you point past him. Sir. Bubbles' eyes just open a little wider and he sinks a little closer to the ground in response, a faint ribbit accompanying the movement.

Something roars. Well, not a roar exactly. More of a high pitch incessant screech that moves up and down like the world's worst fire alarm. You recoil and look at the—the vulpix causing it. No! Bad! You glance back and the eevee's running but not quite out of sight in the burned forest. You reach down and grab Sir Bubbles before taking off in pursuit. Eevee are pokémon, sure, but you've got much longer legs. You can do this.

"Water gun, Sir Bubbles!" The froggo tries to comply but the shot goes very wide and the eevee runs a little bit faster in response. "No! Stop! I'm trying to catch you."

You keep pace pretty well, even coming close enough to think about tackling. But there's always a root you have to dodge or the eevee gets a fifteenth second wind or something. You almost prefer it that way. With the wind in your hair, Sir Bubbles in your arms, and an eevee in front of you this is the most fun you've had in weeks.

Something catches your eye and you come screeching to a halt. Right into a tree root. Which turns the halt into a fall. You move to catch yourself and narrowly do but. Oh crap. You hastily stand back up and look down at your starter as he awkwardly pulls himself up and tries to recover from 120 pounds of girl falling directly onto him. Eventually he looks back up at you, tears in his wide eyes and—this is just a food ploy, isn't it? Evil bastard.

There's another movement at the edge of your vision. You freeze up and reach down for Sir Bubble's ball. It's still there. Somehow didn't get knocked out of your belt. You withdraw him as soon as possible and take ten steps back, doing your best to avoid the roots while looking up.

A giant spider floats between the trees, staring down at you with its almost-human eyes. It—no, she, too big for a male—starts to sink ever lower on her thread. You slowly crouch down, keeping eye contact the whole time, and hold a hand out.

"There you are!" Kekoa shouts somewhere behind you. You almost break eye contact with the spider. "Knew you were stupid, didn't know you were stupid enough to run right off the fucking trail. Now—holy shit." His voice drops to a whisper at the end.

"Shh!" He's being too loud. Might scare her. And she's almost made it to the ground.

"You're—you can't be serious. We need to go. Now."

You want to break eye contact. Glare back at him and tell him to shut up or leave. For once you know what you're doing.

The ariados approaches with small, tepid steps. You move your arm just a little bit towards her to make sure she sees it.

"I'm calling Hekeli," Kekoa hisses.

"Hi, there," you whisper. "You want scratches?"

The ariados chitters and walks right up to you, stinger close to your heart when you're crouched down at her level. You bend your arm and guide your hand to a small little chink in the spider's exoskeleton where the head meets the body. You press a fingernail in and scratch, running it up and down the groove. The spider clicks her mandibles together in contentment and you put a little bit more force into the petting.

"What the actual fuck," Kekoa says at an appropriately low volume. The ariados stakes a step to the side to look at him. He immediately hops back and keeps walking away, putting as much distance as possible between him and the man-sized spider. You suppress a sigh and pat the ariados on the back before rising to your feet.

"Had one as a pet. They're harmless to humans."

But not to. You glance out into the forest. It takes you a second to find it but there's a thin, almost invisible thread running from the web out into the burned woods. The eevee's on the other end. At night the ariados will follow the line and eat the fox and maybe its entire family. You need to save it.

The ariados has already retreated back to her web and is steadily climbing up it, ignoring you as she rises. "Follow me!" you whisper.

You turn to follow the wire and save your furry future friend. A hand grabs your arm and pulls back. Hard. "No," Kekoa hisses back. "The eevee's long gone and we are not going so far off the trail that we can't hear Kiwi shouting."

You pout. "The ariados is going to eat it."

"I thought you liked the damn things? What do you want to starve it for?"

He's looking at you like you're an idiot and it's your fault and he really wants to be somewhere else right now. "Yeah but…" The image of it. You're fine if the spider's eating kibble or even yungoos, but when it's something _cute_ that feels different. Especially if you could have stopped the death and didn't. That's almost like you personally poisoned the pupper and slowly tore it apart.

"Yeah, but…" Kekoa smirks and tilts his head. "Brilliant argument there."

Screw him. Smug, heartless jerk.

"Shut up." You start walking back the way he came, sparing the ariados one last glance. She's already retreated into the chamber at the center of her web.

Once you're far enough away that Kekoa stops glancing back every few seconds he turns to you with a particularly smug smile on his face. "So. Pet ariados?"

You lock up and almost trip. He snickers. Crap. You revealed something you shouldn't have. Now, um, play it cool. "Yeah. I had one."

"Any reason?"

You shrug and do your best to keep your voice level. "Not really."

For a moment you're absolutely certain that he _knows_ and is going to hate you forever, but he never follows up. It's almost worse that way. He could still know and just be lording it over you until he has a better time to strike.

No. Screw him. He doesn't get to ruin your journey. If only because the ever-present dirt and burned trees and over-processed food and dead eevee beat him to it.

_Now . . ._

Of course it had to rain. Because if Kekoa and Cuicatl are going to play nice something else has to spoil the fun. Not that the hills weren't already doing that. You stare up at the last switchback. Or what Kekoa tells you is the last switchback. He could definitely be lying about that, in which case you're going to need another rule. You pull the straps on your pack tighter and take off as fast as you can. The surface of the path is slick, more mud than dirt in some places and once or twice you almost feel like you're going to trip and tumble all the way back down. The thought is sobering enough that you take the last two bends at just a brisk walk. You glance down. Cuicatl's slowly making her way up with the help of a long branch she found somewhere (she said she didn't want to get her cane dirty and it wasn't good for putting weight on anyway). Kekoa's trailing behind her. You hear wings beat nearby and you turn just in time to see Kekoa's pikipek land on your shoulder. Cheating little miss. Must be nice to skip the switchbacks and fly straight up.

By the time Cuicatl and Kekoa catch up you're ready to move on. Cuicatl isn't. The moment you set off she tells you to stop. She's panting a little bit. Weird. Her arm and leg muscles are actually kind of distinct. Wouldn't pet her as an athlete but you'd expected her to be in shape. "You okay?" you ask.

"Asthma," she huffs out. "Only bad. On climbs. Legs. Are fine."

"Okay," you answer. Because what else were you going to say? 'No, we move right now young lady. You can breathe on your own time.' Mom actually might. You fight the urge to scrunch up your face and put your hands on your hips and lecture the wind in character. 'Disgusting. Real women don't pant like mere animals.' Yeah you did whisper that but neither Kekoa nor Cuicatl seems to notice.

So you wait in silence as your friend's breaths slow and deepen. Cuicatl didn't bother to tie back her hair and its plastered over her face with individual strands reaching down almost all the way to her mouth. You can't see her eyes at all. Her hair looks longer than usual with the weight of the water straightening out her curls. Kekoa just scowls at you when you look towards her. Right. Water. Clothing. Chest. It's embarrassing that you thought those were pecs. From what Reverend Patterson said you'd kind of just expected that you'd instantly know when you met someone like her.

Cuicatl finally sticks up a finger. "I'm fine."

You pivot and start walking. The pivot isn't anywhere near as fluid as hers are. She can turn 180 degrees in a single fluid motion and then start walking. You can sort of turn most of that distance in a spin and a step. You still aren't entirely sure what your back foot should be doing or how fast you're supposed to spin or when you put both feet down. Can you ask? Would she think it was weird? How did she even learn to do that? Boot camp? It would make sense. Her pivots seem kind of military-ey.

"How early do they start military training in Anahuac?" you ask her. That's not inappropriate, right?

"Depends. Some stuff in early education when you're six or so. That's mostly just exercise and some basic pokémon stuff. Progressively more as the years go on. Proper training is at sixteen. Unless you go into the calmecac. Or you're a girl. Or disabled."

Oh. Right. Blind girls probably aren't on the front lines.

"Doesn't even make sense," Kekoa mutters. Well, the type of muttering that's meant for other people to hear. "If pokémon and guns do all the work then why can't girls fight?"

Cuicatl hums for a moment. "You're right. It doesn't make sense. But it does get me out of the draft."

The right answer is that women were tainted more by yveltal at the start. If they were to fight on the battlefield they would overflow with sin and corruption. Even if they survived the war they would only cause tragedy if they went home. Dead children, ruined families, burned homes. Sometimes they even start all new wars. But you can't really say that. Cuicatl believes in the evil spirits of her homeland and eventually you'll need to have a talk with her so that she isn't engulfed in the cocoon at the end of the universe. And Kekoa will need to get the whole crossdressing thing sorted out eventually. But you should probably wait until they like you more before you save their souls. Neither are likely to die in the next week.

…right? Did you just jinx it?

You enter into a forest and the rain dies down a little. Downside is that now there are tree roots in the trail. For you it's just kind of annoying. But it'll slow Cuicatl down a lot which also slows you down a lot. And she can't even use Pixie because it's raining and with her fur matted down the fox looks very small and extremely upset.

"You have a brother, right?" Kekoa asks.

"Yes," Cuicatl says.

"Yes," you say. Near simultaneously.

"Meant Cuicatl Ichtaca there. How old is he?"

"Fifteen. How far do we have to go?"

"Probably ten minutes," Kekoa answers.

Wait. _She's_ fifteen. Holy crap. "So you're twins?"

"Yes."

Wow. Brother-sister twins. Which one's older? Do they care? You kind of wish you were a twin so that you always had a sibling to play with and talk about things that you're interested in. You love Levi but he's way younger than you and Exodus—

Exodus is Exodus and this line of thought is over.

* * *

"You're vegetarian, right?" Kekoa asks between mouthfuls of chili. Why ask? He knows you are. It's come up at every trail meal planning session. You ignore the pointless question in favor of eating your own vegetable soup. "And you want to get an… a rainbowfish?"

Pixie doesn't bark. She hasn't caught on to the code yet.

"Yes."

"But you know they eat meat, right?"

"I do," you respond.

"Then you know that stuff is going to be killed for your pokémon to eat, right?"

It had occurred to you.

"So every time you'd give your precious rainbowfish some kibble you'd get flashes of a poor little fox on a string."

That's…

"Kekoa," Cuicatl admonishes. She sets down her spoon and glares in his general direction. "I don't know what's going on between you but we are not talking shit about foxes." She glances down. "Isn't that right, Pix?"

She dutifully grunts at an acceptable indoor volume. Such a good girl.

Kekoa takes a long drink of water and smiles at you in a way that is not at all pleasant. "If you're going to train a carnivore you should at least be honest about what you're doing. Just saying."

He winks at you.

You're starting to understand why Cuicatl hated her.

* * *

Kekoa sets her package down on the desk at the back of the room and starts to unzip it.

"What is it?" you ask.

"An egg."

It's a darn big egg, then. A little bit bigger than Pixie is. Heavy, too, judging from the way Kekoa carried it.

"How big?" Cuicatl asks.

"Big," he answers.

"Yeah, but how big?"

Kekoa sighs and walks over to grab her hand. "You want to grope it?"

"You know it." Once she reaches the egg Cuicatl slowly runs her fingers over it from middle to top to bottom. "It is big." She steadily presses down her palm and holds it still on the middle. "Feels sturdy. Not too hot. Pretty smooth. Rules out the rocks."

"It's heavy but it didn't feel rock heavy," Kekoa answers.

Cuicatl nods. "Fish, insects, and amphibians are out. Bird? Lizard? _Maybe_ a dragon given the size. Maybe. Most don't lay eggs."

"A mammal?" Both Kekoa and Cuicatl turn to look at you. Was that too stupid? "Some lay eggs, right?" Right.

"Some do." Cuicatl goes back to facing the egg. "It would be very big for a monotreme. Blissey eggs are about half the size." Wait are those actual eggs. Fertilized eggs? How? They're all girls. So when people eat them is that murder? Cuicatl holds her hand back out. "Take me back?"

Kekoa helps her get back to her seat. "What's the judgment, doc?" he asks. Taunts? Praises? Hard to say. You'd thought they'd made up.

"No idea." Cuicatl sighs. "Druddigon, maybe? I've never felt a druddigon egg before but the adults are big enough. Egg's not warm enough for charizard. I think goodra eggs are sticky but don't quote me on that. Don't know if flygon lay eggs. Braviary or mandibuzz maybe. Don't actually know what krookodile eggs feel like. Grew up too far south of the desert to know. If it's not from Alola it could be anything. Bunch of weird birds and giant lizards out there."

Wait hang on did she imply that if she was born farther north she would've tried to walk right up to a momma krookodile? She isn't serious, right?

Right?

…right?

Darn it she probably is. How are you supposed to keep everyone alive with stuff like this?

* * *

A tall teenage girl in overalls and a worn leather jacket walks into the lobby.

"Which ones of all y'all are looking to challenge my trial?"

You look around. Two preteen kids in the corner raise your hands. You put yours up and your teammates follow. The girl nods her head and walks over to the younger trainers. Oh boy. First trial. It feels real all of a sudden. You're going to be fighting a—well, you know it's a normal trial but you've honestly never bothered to look up what the totem is. That's a job for future Genesis. In any case you're going to fight a giant version of a pokémon with a poliwag.

…maybe you should've thought this through earlier. Even if he is a very brave poliwag. Gallantly chickens out like the best. Not at all afraid to be killed in nasty waves. Brave, brave Sir Bubbles.

The captain walks over. "Alright, how many official trails have y'all cleared?"

"None," Cuicatl answers.

Is that a problem? The captain smiles. Probably not a problem, then.

"Alright. Any days work best for you?"

You glance at your teammates. Do they have any they prefer? You really should've talked this over in advance as a group.

"Can I have a few days? I think I need to prepare a little more." It's an honest answer. Hopefully she doesn't hate you.

"Very self-aware." Compliments? Fake compliments? Did you screw up? "I'll schedule you for Friday. You two?" She moves on without answering your question.

"Can I do Wednesday?" Cuicatl asks.

"Certainly. And you, sir?"

Well at least you aren't the only person Kekoa can fool. Or does the captain already know in advance?

"Tomorrow," Kekoa answers. "And it's good to see you again, Kanoa."

The captain, Kanoa, blinks. "I'm sorry, I don't think I remember you. Meet a lot of people as captain."

Kekoa tenses and raises up his shoulders before letting out a breath. "I used to go by Allana."

"Holy shit, Al—wait, what do you go by now?"

"Kekoa."

"Thanks. Holy shit, Kekoa. How have you been?" She's still smiling but there's a trace of something else—sadness or concern, maybe—in her eyes. "You just dropped right off the earth and I never found out what happened to you." Her eyes narrow. "What did happen to you?"

"Foster care." Kekoa—Allana—looks up and makes eye contact with Kanoa. "Can we talk about this later? Alone?"

The captain nods. "Lunch? There's a great Korean place a couple miles down the road. I can give you a ride."

"Can you pay? I'm broke right now."

Kanoa's smile returns.

"I can. You want to head out now?"

Allana stands up. "Don't see a reason not to."

As soon as they're out the door you turn to Cuicatl.

"I think I need a second pokémon."

She nods. "Do you know what you want?"

"No." Because of course you haven't planned anything. You'd kind of expected that Dad would've told Mom off by now and invited you back. But here you are. Haven't received so much as a phone call. Not that they know your phone number. Wait, what if they can't contact you? Admittedly you haven't checked your old emails. Or social media. You don't really want to know what's being said about you.

"Maybe we should start at a shelter then. Can you look and see if there's one nearby?"

There is one two miles away. Not a terrible walk all things considered.

You immediately want to take it back. A walk along a road in the afternoon Alola sun with no shade to be found is absolutely miserable. By the time you reach the shelter you've probably sweated out all the water in your body. Cuicatl seems a little better, doesn't look like she's had an asthma attack or anything, but she's also drenched.

Shelter looks like a nice enough place. Big fence around it that probably has some outside habitats. You can look into two: one is an aviary with two dartrix and the other is just a normal pen with a midday lycanroc. It looks at you with a regal gaze as you pass before sticking its tongue out and rolling over, apparently wanting you to come over and scratch it through the fence. You wish you could. Maybe you could adopt it? Seems like a good pupper. But the meat thing. Or do they eat rocks?

You walk in the door and a bell rings. The inside has sterile white walls with small cages lining them. You see a litten stand up and press his paws against the cage wall. What a cutie.

"Can I help you?"

You turn to the desk. There's a twenty-something man there. Looking at you. Right.

"I want to adopt a pokémon."

"Certainly." He smiles and looks at Cuicatl. "And you?"

There's no response. She's facing the far wall away from the receptionist. He can't see her closed or cloudy eyes.

"She's just tagging along," you answer for her.

"Alright. Anything in particular you want?"

You start to shake your head but then catch yourself. "Is the lycanroc out there up for adoption?" Wait. It's at a shelter. Of course it is. So dumb of you.

If he notices he doesn't seem to care. "She is." Yes! "Now, what license do you have?" Oh…"

"Class II."

The receptionist sighs and leans into the desk. "Sorry. Need a III. Edelgard's a big softy but most lycanroc don't take well to new trainers." …crap.

You turn to Cuicatl. "Hey, you want a lycanroc?"

"No," she says as she turns around and walks over. "I already have six pokémon. And Pixie doesn't do well with other dogs." Well that rules out—"You can get one if you want. She just gets jealous when her trainer has them."

"You sure?" you ask.

Cuicatl nods. "Yes. If she has a problem I will deal with it."

That's not entirely reassuring. You don't want to cause her problems that she has to deal with. But she says it with enough confidence that you have to suppose its fine with her. "Okay." You turn back to the receptionist. One more question. Even if the… unfortunate meat problem remains you think it's okay to save one pupper to make up for the one you killed. "Any chance you've got an eevee?"

He shakes his head. "Sorry. No eevee. We do have a leafeon, though."

Plant eevee. You would've preferred water, fire, or fairy eevee. Wait? Do plant eevee eat meat? Or do they eat plants? Is that kind of cannibalism? Questions for later.

"Can I see it?"

The receptionist smiles. "Certainly. I'll just need some of your information…"

* * *

The leafeon is curled up on the table. It glances at you as you walk in and then quickly resumes licking its paw. Oh. You aren't too interesting, huh?

"What's its story?" you ask.

"His name's Inferno," the receptionist—his nametag says Alan—says. "Trainer wanted a flareon. His eevee evolved in the forest. He left him here with us. The forests here are full of grass energy so lots of eevee evolve. This kind of thing happens a lot."

A beloved pet until he didn't turn out exactly how his parents wanted. You can almost hear Exodus spit the words out, taunting you from the sick comfort of her twisted worldview. You should call her eventually. Not today, though. Probably not this week. Or this month. Might get around to it on her birthday. If you remember when that is. You're pretty sure it's in May. The fifth? Sounds about right.

You gently extend your hand towards Inferno. He stares at it for a moment before getting up and rubbing his cheek against it. When he moves you catch the scent of freshly cut grass. And he is a little plant doggo with a leaf tail and ears and little blades of grass sticking out everywhere. Kind of cute in his own way. You scratch him under the chin and you think you can hear her purr.

"How hard are leafeon to care for?" you ask.

"They need time in the sun and occasional insect mix." Insect mix! You can deal with feeding your pokémon bugs that would have died in like a week anyway. "Affectionate. But that means that their smell gets all over everything. Trainer included." Was that a joke? Should you laugh. You do just in case you were supposed to. Wait, does that mean that he thinks you're laughing at him? "They're easily housebroken. Reasonably intelligent. Great air filters. My personal favorite eeveelution. But," he sighs and holds his hands up in (mock) surrender, "I've got two at home so I suppose I'm biased." You stop petting Inferno and he fixes his big red eyes on you. Aww. She's almost as cute as Pixie. "Can say that they don't like to fight much. They'll participate in the big battles but they won't really train."

Well, you don't really train either. Honestly you're just looking for enough power to beat the trial and move on to the next one. You'll figure that one out when you get to it. "Is he strong enough to take on the first trial?" you ask.

Alan rolls his eyes. Did you mess up? Insult him? "Oh, they're plenty powerful when they put their mind to it. Good enough to clear the early trials without much work. If you can get him to train then he'll be good for the later ones, too."

That's good enough for you. And he's very cute. And seems to like you. And you do feel bad for him. Not his fault that he's a plant instead of a fire fox. Although you could probably make him a fire fox with a few matches. You doubt he'd like it very much and you definitely won't but you could.

"And they don't eat meat?"

"Insects, if they count?"

Well. He's close enough to perfect.

* * *

Pixie's buried in the blankets on Cuicatl's bed when you walk in. Her ears instantly perk up and she rises to her feet. Then she freezes (figuratively and sort of literally) in place, ears back down and tails tensed up. A sort-of-low and sort-of-intimidating growl rings out as she stares down Inferno. The leafeon just sits down and swishes her tail. Cuicatl steps forwards towards her bed, cane swishing in front of her. You think that all Pokémon Center rooms are pretty much the same so some day she'll get pretty good at this.

"Pix." It's not quite a reprimand. Maybe a warning? "That's Inferno. She's going to be on Genesis's team. Not ours." She sits down on the bed and Pixie stops growling to turn to pout at her trainer. Cuicatl extends a hand but Pixie doesn't accept the petting. Cuicatl just leans back against the wall, apparently unphased. "You won't have to work with him or battle alongside him. I will not be caring for him or getting an eevee myself."

Pixie keeps staring Cuicatl down. She closes her eyes and almost seems to nod off while sitting down. "Hey, Genesis?"

"Um, yeah?"

She opens her eyes and tilts her head. "Any chance that you'd let Pixie have a battle with your leafeon? No orders from either trainer?"

Ice pupper has the type advantage over grass pupper. But Adam said that leafeon are really strong and Pixie… isn't. Maybe its fair? "Why?" you ask.

"To give a demonstration."

Cryptic. She probably knows what she's doing though. Cuicatl's good at pokémon. Really good.

* * *

Inferno shakes himself off and the few ice crystals that hit him go flying away. The field is bathed in red light as Pixie is withdrawn. There are thin lines of blood on the field where the razor leaf attack hit. Cuicatl turns around and starts walking in the direction of the Center.

"Don't think Pix'll be much of a problem anymore. Congrats on the new pokémon."

* * *

Allana opens up the door and walks in with enough spring in her step that you can already tell what she has to say. "Guess what I just got?" She flashes you her new Normalium-Z in case you had any doubt.

"Congratulations," Cuicatl replies. She sits up and smirks. "Now be a good lab rattata and tell me what to expect." What. No. That's really, really rude. Why?

Allana just rolls her eyes and sits down on her bed. "What, you're Professor Slowking now?"

"Oh please," Cuicatl turns up her nose and shuts her eyes. "A dragon doesn't need a clam to lord over the rabble."

"Rabble?" Allana asks, eyebrow raised. "Really?"

Cuicatl solemnly nods. "Rabble."

"Aren't you a little small for a dragon?"

"For now."

Allana rolls her eyes. "And someday you're going to force me to get off my ass and go on a great quest?"

"You may try to rescue the noble Princess Genesis." Why are you getting dragged into this? What's even happening? Is this an argument? Friendship? Flirting? You hope not the last one. You'd like to think _at least_ one of them is straight. "The effort is valiant, fair knight, but it is for naught: you will fall like all the rest." She drops her arms and leans back against the wall. "Seriously, how'd it go?"

"Tell you when you win."

"Fine." Cuicatl crashes back down onto her bed and Pixie jumps up in surprise at her feet. "See if I care."

* * *

"You're seriously going alone?" Cuicatl asks.

"Not alone," Allana answers. "I'll have my pokémon."

"Can't you just wait two days until I can join you?"

"No. it's going to rain tonight and castform are rare enough that we need every chance to catch one we can get."

Cuicatl glares at her. "You're going into unfamiliar woods alone, at night, in the rain."

"Yes." Allana meets her glare. "I am."

"Why?"

"Because I'd like to know that we'll be able to eat on the next mission."

"Already taken care of." Cuicatl folds her arms and leans back. "You both made $100 from your paras. Soon that will be $180 or $200."

"Jenny just blew fifty bucks on an eevee."

"Came from my personal funds." If she's going to bash you, you're free to jump in. "Still over $100 ahead after it."

Allana rolls her eyes and walks over to face you. "There are no personal funds until food is secure."

"In any case," Cuicatl interjects, "that covers rice, vegetables, pads, and purification tablets. And there will be more chances to make money next mission."

"Yeah, well. What about pokéballs?" Allana starts pacing across the room. "What about potions? What about kibble, insects, moss, birdseed and whatever else the pokémon need? What if the tent rips? What if we want a bigger one?" She stops and crouches down in front of Cuicatl's bed, hands on her thighs. "I will take some risks if it keeps us from having to ask those questions."

"I'll go," you add.

"No," Allana and Cuicatl say in unison. Allana continues: "You can't go until you clear the trial."

Oh. That's why Cuicatl isn't going. Not the blindness thing. Because blindness wouldn't really matter at night.

Cuicatl sighs. "At least take Inferno."

"What?" Allana asks.

What? Why? Why take him? Why is Cuicatl dragging you back into this?

"Because Pixie will revolt if I send her into a tropical rainforest during a storm, but a leafeon will be comfortable and capable of guiding you around."

Oh. That actually does make a lot of sense. You nudge Inferno awake and she glances up at you with a look of absolute betrayal in her eyes. Yes. You should've let her sleep. You're a monster. You stroke her cheek to see if that helps redeem you in his eyes.

It does.

"You want to go help…" Her? Him? You don't want to offend Allana. You don't want to offend Xerneas. "…my friend. In the rainforest. Tonight." Inferno keeps staring at you with dull, sleepy eyes before he finally stands up and shakes himself off. His fresh grass scent becomes very powerful before he leaps down and gracefully trots over to Allana. You hear Pixie growl in response and see her ears perk up before her trainer presses them down and begins a thorough petting.

"Just try to stay safe, alright?" Cuicatl asks.

"Heh. Not much point in getting the money if I'm too dead to spend it, right?"

"…right."

Something in Cuicatl's expression tells you she's not entirely convinced.

* * *

Content Notice: Repeated misgendering and deadnaming.


	13. Someday You Will Learn

Content Notice: Death/Gore in more detail than previously seen. Parental neglect. Vaguely suicidal ideation but to a much lesser extent than 1.5.

* * *

**Normal 1.13: Someday You Will Learn  
**_Pixie_

* * *

Cold air rushes over you as Avalanche stands. When you whine you're hardly the only one of your siblings to do so. Your mother ignores you and trots closer to Aurora. Father. He steps back and reveals a strange creature with white fur and a black horn half-buried in the snow. It doesn't move. Asleep?

Avalanche growls as she approaches Aurora. They press their heads against each other and sniff before she breaks off to look at the creature. She bends down and sniffs a few times before purring in contentment. Then she opens her jaws, lunges down, and rips her teeth into it. Red liquid stains both the creature and Avalanche's white fur. The smell strikes you a moment later. It's… wonderful. Warmth in scent form.

"Blood," Aurora hisses. "It is life. Yours. Others. We take it to live."

"Like milk?" Thirdborn mews.

Aurora comes closer as Avalanche continues to violently rip into the creature's flank. Red comes to stain more than just her snout as she rips and pulls at the creature.

"Milk for adults. Not given. We take it. Take it from the dead."

"Dead?" you ask. "What's dead?"

Aurora stares into your eyes. "Someday you will learn."

He turns around and leaves you, your six siblings, the creature, and your bloodstained mother behind.

* * *

Avalanche roars and whirls around. You see and _feel _light move as she shoots a pulse into the darkness. Sharp ice comes back in retaliation. You hear it and duck into the snow and the smell of blood follows you. Yours? No. Not hurt. You dig deeper in defense as the sounds and smells of battle rage above. The snow moves around you as ice shards impale themselves in the snow and your other siblings bury deeper.

The sounds die off. Eventually there is quiet and the deep smell of blood. You hesitantly dig closer to the surface and stick your head out. Avalanche is standing still. You sniffle on accident and she turns around to you. Before you can figure out what to do she presses her snout against yours and sniffs. Apparently satisfied she turns to something else.

Someone else. Fourthborn has an ice shard sticking between her ribs. He's lying on the ground unmoving in a small puddle of red. Prey. Dead. Sixthborn has a trail of blood leading into her trail but her head surfaces soon after. When she joins you and your siblings on the surface you see that her paw is leaking red.

Avalanche pokes Fourthborn with her snout a few times. No movement. Without a word she picks your brother up in her jaws and walks a few of her body lengths away. There she digs into the snow with her forepaws before depositing your brother, covering him up, and walking back to you. She lies down and looks at Sixthborn before pulling her closer and licking your sister's paw.

Avalanche never mentions Fourthborn again.

* * *

Sixthborn's paw starts to smell. At first it just smells like blood. Later it starts to smell different. More like the dead bodies Avalanche eats. Eventually she can't walk on it without crying out in pain.

One day she doesn't wake up. Avalanche buries her near Fourthborn. No one ever mentions Sixthborn again.

* * *

Your tail splits! Now you're more like Avalanche and Aurora than you were before. Soon all of your siblings' tails have split. On the day when both of your tails are equally long, Avalanche howls and Aurora comes to her territory. He has no food with him. Your parents nuzzle each other and then Avalanche brings Aurora to each of you in turn and shows him your tails. When they're done they both purr in pride and happiness.

Aurora thumps his tails on the ground. "Two-tails! Now you will hunt!"

* * *

Hunting is boring. You just sit beneath a hole in the rock that you really want to explore but Avalanche says no and she would just pick you up in her mouth if you tried so you don't. Eventually the sky goes dark. You're still waiting. Then the sky goes even darker and Avalanche barks and starts spraying cold air upwards. Small winged creatures fall down and Aurora dashes out to intercept and shake all of them in his jaws. By the time the cloud passes the ground is littered with bodies the same size as yours.

Avalanche steps up to one and rips into it. As she chews she makes eye contact with you and gestures towards one of the corpses on the ground. You cautiously approach it and take a few sniffs. There's heat radiating from it. Very cautiously you sink your teeth into it and feel the warm metallic life flow into your mouth. You close your jaws, pull back, shake, and swallow.

If this is what hunting feels for the predator you can understand why the redcrests took your siblings away.

You drown the thought in another bite and the taste of blood.

* * *

When your third tail starts to bud Avalanche lets you split up to find prey. The pairs are new every time with Avalanche herself supervising one. Today she's with you. She keeps one tail wrapped around all of yours. Sometimes she moves a little too fast and you have to run as hard as you can to keep up and sometimes it doesn't matter because your tails still slip from hers anyway. That gets her attention and she skids to a stop before waiting on you to catch up. When she starts again she goes slow enough that you can match her pace and sometimes accidentally lean into her as you walk. Until she stops and it's your turn to abruptly break.

Before you can protest she pushes you down into the snow. Redcrests? No. She pushes herself down lower a moment later. She's either hiding or stalking and the nine-tales don't hide. Why would they? Her heartbeat's calm, too. As yours slows in turn you dig a little closer to her and press into her side. She's projecting more cold than usual. Even inside her fur there's very little warmth to be had.

She moves. You almost get kicked as she rushes out of the snow and starts blasting light out at something. Her departure kicks up enough snow that you can stand up and sort of watch as she fights a strange floating icicle. The prey blasts out shot after shot of ice but none of it makes a difference to Avalanche; she's the coldest thing on the entire mountain and nothing can touch her.

Eventually the monster turns to flee. It doesn't matter. Avalanche takes it out with one well-aimed shot to the back. It slowly collapses piece by piece as gravity comes back to the corpse. When everything's done there's a pile of sludge left where the beast's shadow was. Avalanche sniffs it and then barks to summon you over. When you arrive you realize that there's no blood. The whole puddle is homogenous: no interesting sights or smells stand out. In your peripheral vision you see Avalanche bend down and lick from the body. You do the same.

It's not blood. It's thicker. You can't taste as many minerals. More like fat than meat. It's very dense and it tastes very wonderful. You don't quite have a word for the taste. A little bit like the berries Aurora brought up once from a trip down to the base. Your tongue is too small. You want to lick up more faster. Avalanche's pace is almost casual compared to your tongue's rapid strokes. Why? Does she not—

Your head lights up in pain. Attack? No. No blood. Avalanche doesn't seem worried. As you bury your head in your paws she trots over and picks you up in her mouth. You feel a purr shake through her and into you. Why? She should be much more panicked. You're her best kit by far.

When you return home she gently sets you down and you shake yourself off. At some point in the trip your headwound faded to something trivial. Was that her spit? Avalanche sets herself (and you) down and tucks her tails into the snow beneath her without answering. "Those are new. Aurora thinks humans brought them."

You flick a tail out. "Why?" You've heard her thoughts on humans. They used to be a nuisance but a tolerable one. Then they started coming more and more frequently.

"They are easy to kill, high in fat, and taste very good. The assembly thinks they are an offering in exchange for their den on the peak."

Would that justify the den? You haven't seen it but it's supposedly very large and they've had to bring lots of supply through the mountain to build it. Plus Avalanche thinks that humans do not belong in the presence of the nine-tails because they are smelly and hairless and stupid and gross. She is very smart so she is almost certainly right.

"Worth it?" you ask.

She shakes herself off. "We gave them a trail. If they stick to it we will not destroy them."

That seems generous and very reasonable. Exactly what you would expect from Avalanche and Aurora and the nine-tales.

* * *

Firstborn and Seventhborn return before dark. But when Avalanche would usually cover all of you up in her tails and pull you close for the night Secondborn and Thirdborn are nowhere to be seen. Avalanche paces back and forth with increasing fury as the sun sets and the moon rises on the horizon. Eventually she stops, stamps her feet and howls. She resumes pacing until Aurora arrives.

Your parents have a very terse conversation at a low enough volume that it's difficult to make out much over the typical mountain wind. When it's over Aurora sets off in a different direction than he came. Avalanche resumes pacing for much of the night. You try to stay awake. There's a sense of dread over you and your siblings and you need to know what's going on. But you're just a two-tails and at some point you dig a little deeper into the snow and sleep.

You wake up to the sound of something very large being dragged through the snow. Once you're out of your burrow you make out something furry and strange looking (and smelling) staring back at you. There are bloody wounds on its side and one of its arms seems to be entirely gone.

Avalanche is cautiously circling it. "You're sure?" she asks. Aurora barks with confidence.

With bared teeth Avalanche turns from you and faces the body head on before unleashing the brightest and longest moonblast you've ever seen. For a few seconds there's daylight on the mountain before the light fades and only a charred, bloody, remains. Without a sound Avalanche walks over, lifts a leg, and scent marks it.

Aurora takes the creature away.

"What was that?" Firstborn quietly asks.

"A warning."

Avalanche walks back to you and your siblings and wraps you up in her tails. Is this it? Are you supposed to sleep now? Where are Secondborn and Thirdborn?

Seventhborn makes your questions known and Avalanche growls before uncurling and going back to pacing in her rut in the snow. "Dead. Avenged." She stops and glares back at her children before coming forward and sitting down a body length away. After a long, mournful whine to the moon she pauses. When she speaks again it's in the tone of the ancient stories.

"The Mountain never changes. The Mountain never grows. There will never be more space than there was when I was born. Two nine-tales make a litter. The Mountain never changes. The Mountain never grows. When the nine-tales die they must leave behind one hair each so that there is enough food and space to go around."

She looks down from the moon and back at you. "There are three of you now. I will allow only one more loss. The Mountain never changes. The Mountain never grows. I may only keep two."

"What if none of us die?" you ask.

Avalanche shakes her head and sweeps her tails around you before settling down and pressing you into the snow for the remainder of the night.

* * *

The next morning's excursion takes you past a snowy cavern. The day before you and your siblings would have walked as close to the edge as you could before Avalanche growled and pulled you back or fear of the yawning chasm finally won out. Today you all cling to the rock wall a few body lengths away, no one daring to put space between them and the firm surface.

It would be very easy to get pushed down here.

Accidents happen, after all.

* * *

You hear the footfalls and grunts of a strange creature long before you can see it through the storm. Avalanche stands tense with her tails over her children as the sounds gradually become louder. First you can see a strange outline between Avalanche's tails, a little bit like a redcrest but far larger and without any claws. Most of his body covered in black fur but you can sometimes see dark brown skin underneath.

"Holy shit," it vocalizes once it sees Avalanche. The two stare at each other for a dozen breaths before Avalanche turns around and gently picks you up in her jaws. She whips a tail at the newcomer as she walks past and the creature belatedly staggers after her. What is he? What is this adventure for? Why did Avalanche choose you?

The storm steadily dissipates and the air grows warmer. At first it's pleasant like being under Avalanche's tails. Then it starts to become very warm like blood. Eventually it is painfully warm in a way that you've never experienced at all before.

At this point Avalanche gently sets you down and watches as the strange bipedal creature staggers after her before crashing his hindquarters down on a rock and breathing deeply. "Thanks," he mutters.

For a few heartbeats Avalanche stares at him in silence. Then she starts trotting back up the mountain, out of the terrible warm. You dutifully follow before she whirls around and growls at you with her teeth bared. You take a step back. What? What is she doing. When she starts moving again you follow with the same result.

The creature slowly stands. "Oh. You, uh, want me to catch it?"

She barks in affirmation and starts bolting up the hill. You start running as a crashing sound echoes behind you but Avalanche turns and shakes her fur. A colorful barrier materializes in front of her and you crash right into it.

"Makuhita, use arm thrust!"

Loud footfalls ring out behind you and you dart to the side while hugging the barrier. You glance behind you and see a large urine-colored creature lumbering after you. He's slow which buys you precious seconds. Behind the barrier Avalanche makes no further attempts to climb the mountain.

"Why?!" you scream at her. "Help!"

You break away from the barrier to avoid getting cornered between it and a rock. You're still outpacing the beast but you're starting to feel warm in your lungs and your fur and everywhere else. You catch a glance of Avalanche and see the dispassionate eyes of a predator staring back.

_Oh no._

This is what happens when three vulpix remain.

For a moment you pause in shock. You barely start walking in time to avoid a powerful punch sending up snow and earth behind you. Then you start running again. "Seventhborn is the youngest! Firstborn is a terrible hunter! Leave one of them!" She doesn't answer. Her eyes don't change.

Maybe this is a test. Yes, you have a chance to prove your worth by fighting two strange creatures at once and winning (although one doesn't seem to be doing much at all). You pivot and unleash as much snow as you can while you're tired and in burning air. It's too little. After it's all done the smaller creature just wipes its face off and resumes charging you.

No. You'll need to weaken him. You turn around and rush the creature. It lunges, you dive, and as you sail past you slap all of your tails against him fast enough that the air cracks. Your eyes widen under the pain of the impact in your tails but you keep going. You have to. There's no time. With a furious growl you turn around and unleash a barrage of ice at the creature. This time there's so much less. He doesn't even flinch.

_No._

You see the impact coming but between pain and despair you don't do anything to block it. Something cracks in your chest and there's warmth under the skin. Did he rupture something? Do you care? You glance up to Avalanche and give one last mewl pleading for help. For a moment her expression breaks and you see your mother, not a hunter. Then she turns around and slowly starts walking back up as the barrier falls.

_No._

The creature descends again. You feel two, three more blows each followed by cracking and warmth in your body but none of it hurts more than what you just saw.

Eventually the attacks stop and the world disappears in bloodstained light.

* * *

The rainforest is far hotter and wetter than anywhere else you've been before and it's terrible and you hate it but Skysong insists on walking straight into an ambush by a very strong pokémon and you will do what you can to keep her from dying so that she owes you her life and can never abandon you.

You still have the harness on when you, Skysong, and Snowhair walk into a clearing with a small set of platforms in it. Snowhair takes your trainer's hand and leads her to one of the small ones. "Sit," she says, and sit Skysong awkwardly does. Then she bends over and unclips your harness before bringing herself upright again.

"It's fine if you want into your ball, Pix. No fights for a bit."

You sit down and growl. An ambush predator will strike when she least expects it. It is very important for you to remain visible so that her enemies fear for their lives and stay away.

Snowhair claps her hands. "You ready to begin?"

"Yes," Skysong replies. Like she's not only ready to get attacked by a monster but looking forward to it.

"Now, for my trial we…" Snowhair's eyes go wide and you can hear her say a human anger expression quietly enough that maybe Skysong didn't catch it. "Uh, you heard of chess?"

"Heard of it, never played."

Her opponent, the so-called-captain, drums her paw on the platform. "Well, then I can't expect you to play it from memory. Shoot, should've thought of this earlier."

"We can just say that I won and no one will know the difference?" Skysong suggests in a higher pitch than usual, like she's appealing for special treatment from her mother. Except Snowhair isn't her mother. They smell very different from each other and this "captain" is far too young.

"Tempting but no. Wait." The captain bares her teeth. "I might if you tell me what's up with Kekoa."

Skysong moves her shoulders in an act of submission. "He was being a dick. He's slowly being less of a dick. What exactly do you want to know?"

"A lot," Snowhair answers before breaking into a laugh. "You might want to withdraw your vulpix. This could take a bit."

You roar. No! She will not use clever tricks to attack Skysong when she least expects it! You refuse to grant the underhanded monster what she—

* * *

Where are you?

What is you?

Memories.

What are memor—

* * *

"Confuse Ray!" Skysong yells. You blink and look around. There's a giant (but very pretty) white human-like thing in the center of the clearing. Looks sick. The dumb mushroom bugs did their job and now you will strike the final blow. Just as soon as you can move your eyes. Why are you this slow? Did the pokéball do this? You can feel your head moving and the energy coming but the fluffman is terribly fast and has leaves spread out by his eyes before you can even fire off the attack. Why is it so, so fast?

{Trick room. Also got in a nasty plot boost. Don't let hit you.}

Right as you get the message orange orbs appear in front of the fluffman. You desperately run away as fast as your very slow body can take you. Out of the corner of your eye you see the fluffman flinch right before the orbs start to fly. You dive down and put yourself as close to the ground as possible in case they fly high. They don't. One strikes right behind you and before you can think you're blasted through the air at normal speed.

"Pixie!" Skysong calls. No. No no no no no no no no no. You can't fail her and lose without getting a single hit in. With as much willpower as you can muster you pulse a spectral light from your body. Fluffman turns to look at you right as the attack launches. Yes! You remember what Skysong told you and puff up to cool the air. Then with a mighty scream you launch a barrage of icicles straight through fluffman's stupid leaves. Skysong makes little lightning with her fingers. "Now roar!"

Roar! You can do the roars! The sound takes longer to come but when it does you let as much out as you can to tell the fluffman that you are way scarier than it and honestly it should just run away before it gets eaten. It doesn't quite work. Fluffman does blink repeatedly and even stumbles over itself and crashes to the ground and you get a wonderful opportunity to pelt it with even more ice shards. You even hit fluffman right in the face as it glares up at you. Then—

Fire. Your head is on fire. No, your _mind_ is on fire. Or broken. Or on fire and broken. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts so much and you want to die or at least curl up into a ball and stay still until—

Skysong screams. You slowly and shakily stand and find her curled up on the ground with her paws squeezing her head and her body curled up.

…

You couldn't save her.

…

What now?

…

Should you put her down?

…

You don't want her to slowly die from the rot.

…

Is there even a wound?

…

Matriarch's going to kill you.

…

Do you let her?

…

The fluffman walks over. For a moment you consider trying to get one last ice shard in its eye to spite it in the end. But your head hurts too much. Just thinking about it breaks you. No. Nothing to do. When your legs give out and you hit the ground your eyes are already closed.

Just get it over with.

No one ever loved you anyway.

And why would they?

You were never good for anything.

The killing blow never comes. At some point Skysong stops screaming but her ragged, harsh breaths and the smell of saltwater tell you that she's still alive. You open an eye and turn to see the fluffman holding her head in its lap and gently stroking a paw through her hair.

{Who taught you?} he finally asks. You get the message but it's distorted and echoey. Nothing like absolute clarity of Skysong's.

Skysong pulls herself up and holds her upper body in the air with her arms. Her breaths are slowing but only barely.

"A.. reuniclus…" she eventually says between breaths. "Sort… of… self… taught."

The fluffman levitates a berry up to Skysong's mouth. {Eat it. Good for psychic pain.}

She slowly lifts up a hand and presses the berry into her mouth. It's a messy process with juice leaking down to the ground and all over her face.

{Inefficient link. Constantly sending signals. Should've had a valve.}

"Valve?"

Fluffman sighs. {May I access your powers and show you?}

Skysong half-chokes and half-laughs. "Couldn't stop you."

{But may I?}

"Go ahead," she says before closing her eyes and lowering herself to the ground.

{Is there another pokémon in the link.}

"Yeah," Skysong mumbles. "Give me a second."

Loudspore materializes beside you. She seems healthy. Why? You are her strongest team member and should have been trusted to finish the match.

Something tugs at your mind. No, that's what the first attack felt like this. This time it feels like something is pushing into it. Not like an attack. Sort of like an attack? It's over very quickly. You blink. The mind pain is gone now. You blink again. What?

"Yeah, I did." Skysong says to no one. To the fluffman? Why did you stop getting those messages. You inquiry growl and she turns her head a few degrees towards you. "Try to push it into the link, Pix."

Into the link? To Loudspore. You think "Why are you healthy?" and also think about Loudspore and Skysong.

The former starts chittering and you belatedly get the answer. "…fought yet!"

Oh. She was the ace. You didn't misread the situation.

You see something float through the air in your peripheral vision. A strange glowing stone. Your tails involuntarily tense like you're in the presence of a ghost.

Fluffman takes the rock and presses it into Skysong's hand. Your trainer looks up with a startled expression on her face.

"But… I lost. I didn't earn it."

The pokémon waves its hand and apparently speaks to Skysong. She stays silent for a long time as she listens with only an occasional nod or grimace to tell you that anything is happening at all.

At last she shakily gets to her feet. You stand up and start to trot over when you see her reach for her pokéballs. "Good work, Pix. We'll talk more later."

* * *

"Now, which pokémon did you wish to transfer?" the healer asks.

Skysong reaches down to her belt to fulfill her promise. She takes off one, two, three, four pokéballs and hands them to the healer. "These"

WAIT.

You growl in protest and she glances down on you. {Explain later} enters your mind. No! No! She promised to get rid of all the bugs when the trial was done.

"Alright, we're all set. Anything else you need from me?"

Skysong shakes her head. "No. Thank you."

"Congrats on winning your first Z-Crystal," the nurse says with teeth bared.

"Thank you." For a moment your trainer. flashes her teeth before turning around and letting her face relax. "Lead me outside, Pix?" Skysong asks/commands. You will so that you can properly berate her without any other humans becoming upset. Once you're outside she sits down on the steps.

You yip, growl, and roar in rapid succession. She only sighs in response.

"You promised!"

Skysong hangs her head low. "I did."

"You broke the promise!"

She closes her eyes. "Ce asked to stay with me."

You thump all of your tails on the ground. "Unacceptable!" You thump them again. "How dare you?!"

Her expression hardens. "Pix, I promised you that there would be no more friends if the trial went well. It didn't."

You glare at her and keep hissing. No. She's going to replace you imminently. Fine. You'll spite her back. See how the oath breaker likes it. Now, what revenge will you take? Obviously you'll kill Loudspore. Maybe pee in Skysong's mouth? It worked for Hummy.

Skysong sighs and reaches for her belt. "Don't kill her," she mutters right before Loudspore appears.

You turn and roar at her and she reflexively skitters back and protects her head with her pincers. {W-what did I do?}

"I'm sorry," Skysong says. "I told you that I'd keep you if Pixie approved. She doesn't."

Loudspore lowers a claw and chitters nervously. {Please?} She finally asks. {I like her. I like you. I want to stay.}

You growl as deeply as you can before shouting {No!} with the link open. She cannot stay. That brings Skysong to two pokémon. Two is far too close to three. And when Skysong has to leave someone behind she'll leave you.

Just like everyone else.

"I'm not going to replace you," Skysong lies. "Ce is very good at capturing things and she's very upbeat and makes me smile. You are more challenging." You growl. You are not challenging. You are a very well-behaved fox. She just waves a paw. "In a good way. You keep me on my toes. And you're very cute and soft and a great guide fox. I can't replace one of you with the other. That's not how it works."

That is exactly how it works. It's how it's always worked and how it will always work.

Skysong lowers her gaze. "I'm sorry," she whispers. As she should be. Breaking promises. "I'm sorry, Ce, but I told Pix this would be temporary. If she doesn't want to change…"

You bark despite not being sure exactly where this is going. You want the bug gone.

"…then I'll still do my best to get you a new trainer. But I can't let you stay."

Loudspore doesn't say anything for a long time. At last she shoots you a final wary look and walks over to Skysong's leg. She wraps her pincers around your trainer's ankles and receives gentle strokes between her mushrooms in return. Is this it? Did you win?

No one answers you for long enough that outside becomes unbearably warm. At last Skysong stands up and withdraws Ce.

"I hope you're happy."

You are.

* * *

Skysong swallows for no apparent reason. "And in the meantime she likes moist, dark places. And scratches between the mushrooms. And pop music. She loves her moss mixes but she thinks fallen leaves and cattails are almost as good."

The man on the screen nods sympathetically but he's been steadily less sympathetic as the conversation has worn on.

"We know," he says. "We've cared for a lot of paras."

"You'll get her a new trainer as soon as you can, right?" Skysong asks even though you're pretty sure that she's asked it at least once before.

"Yes," the man responds. "We will."

Skysong lowers her head and her icky grass-colored hair falls in her face. "Okay," she finally whispers-cries. "I'll send the ball over."

There's some awkward fumbling but eventually the ball disappears in a flash of red. Did you do it? Is she finally gone?

Skysong shuts off the monitor while the man is still speaking and walks away. You press against her leg and she gently pushes you away before walking on.

* * *

You trail behind Bloodrage and Skysong, periodically stopping to scent mark something so you can help lead them out later. You aren't talking to Skysong and she isn't talking to you. The forest is a little bit cooler at night, even if the air feels altogether too much like rain. Ugh. Your fur gets weighed down when it is wet and you look smaller and less intimidating and it is absolutely terrible. Just like the rest of your day.

"Genesis said you have a headache," Bloodrage says.

"Already gone."

Several more steps are taken. Bloodrage flicks on a lightbeam to compensate for the darkening sky.

"You want to talk about the trial?" he asks.

"No."

The only sounds are those of the forest. Rustling trees, bigbeak songs, and the cries of dozens of pokémon you don't recognize. You feel a drop of water hit your tails. Clearly a fluke. You feel another. Just a shaking tree. A big droplet hits you right on the nose. You growl in frustration. You are far too lovely and powerful and important to stand in the rain!

Bloodrage abruptly holds out an arm and Skysong walks right into it. Then he takes off running with a sharp whistle. His bigbeak soars down from the trees to join him.

"Kekoa, wait!" Skysong shouts before lifting her white stick and running after him. You take off in response. She moves rather well for being blind, even though there are a lot of tree roots on the—you see it happen but you're powerless to stop it. Her paw finally hit one of the roots and for a moment she stops entirely. Then her body keeps flying forward while her paw is stuck behind the root.

She hits the ground with a thud and stays down.

Bloodrage is still off ahead. You can hear him give commands and hear something else retaliate with bursts of something. You sit down and try to lick some of the water out of your fur. Skysong can take care of herself.

She doesn't move but she's still breathing. Crying even.

Should you help? She did betray you. But if you help her now she might realize how valuable you are and kick out Loudspore for good. Worth the risk. You steadily plod over and gently extend a paw to her back.

She screams with intensity and anger you've never heard from her before. She tells a crocodile (?) in the earth (?) exactly what procreative acts he needs to perform. Some involve defecation.

Human reproduction is very disturbing.

Bloodrage arrives around the time that Skysong's scream breaks into rapid, shallow breaths and occasional gasps and moans. Her eyes are overflowing with saltwater. Did you cause this? You step back. Best not to test your luck now.

"What happened?" Bloodrage asks. He doesn't receive an answer beyond an explosion of mucus from her nose and a absent-minded paw movement to wipe it off. Ew.

She slowly calms down with progressively deeper and less frequent breaths. Then she's quiet for several heartbeats. "I tripped," she finally answers.

"Can you walk?" Bloodrage asks as he crouches down.

"Maybe." She sniffles. "Foot hurts a lot."

"Let me help." Bloodrage locks paws with Skysong and slowly pulls her up. For a moment she keeps one foot held above the ground while leaning into Bloodrage before she slowly lowers it and winces. "Hey, it's—"

"I can walk on it," Skysong replies in a dull, low voice.

For a second it looks like Bloodrage is going to argue with your idiot liar trainer before he just sighs and starts moving forward. You take the lead and track the familiar scents back out of the forest.


	14. Mother and Sister

**Normal 1.14: Mother and Sister**  
_Egg_

* * *

You awaken trapped and comfortable.

Something in you knows that you should get out. Escape. Be free. Free from what? The liquid around you is very pleasant. You hear sounds outside. High pitched and soothing. Mother! She is why you must get out.

You raise your head and bash your tooth against the wall. Then you do it again. And again. Mother is there. She will hear you and help. Eventually. She does not help but she does stop encouraging you. Odd. Your tooth strikes the wall again and the shell cracks. Another hit and it crumbles. You press your head out through the hole and into the

You don't know what this is. A new sense!

You survey your surroundings and find her. Two hers. They smell like hers. One is very big and adult colored. Mother! You rush towards her and squeak so she knows that you are here and hers and that you love her very much. She reaches down one of her absolutely massive arms and holds out a paw and you press your head into it. Her claws feel very soft. Wait what do most claws feel like? You press a claw into your face. Yes, hers are much softer.

"Hello," Mother says. "Who are you?"

"Your daughter!" Obviously. "I just hatched!"

She extends her other claw down to scratch you because she loves you and will look out for you until you are as big as she is.

"And I'm your Mother?"

"Yes!"

She ruffles the feathers on your head. "You're very soft," she comments. Your sister huffs beside you. "Just like you, Pixie," Mother adds.

Your sister's name is Pixie! "What's my name?" you ask.

"Hmmmmm." She hums/roars a little bit. It's very melodic and pretty and you're upset when she stops. "Your Dad will be here later. I think he'll want to name you."

"Why?"

"Because…" She trails off and doesn't finish the thought. "He wanted to raise you."

You thump your tail on the ground. "But you're my Mother!"

She shakes her head and her beautiful green feathers move with her. "I'll still be around. But he'll do most of the work."

You hiss. "Unfair! You're raising Pixie!"

Pixie harrumphs in agreement. It's a very strange sound.

"Yes. Your Father is also caring for other pokémon."

"But you're taking care of my sister! Why not me? I'm a girl. You're a girl. It makes sense."

Her claws twitch up and nearly out of reach. You can still press your head into them if you stand up as tall as you can. "Why do you think Pixie's your sister?"

"Because she's the same color and size as me."

You notice that Mother's eyes are very pretty. Not like Pixie's. There's some color in them but it's hidden behind a white pattern. Mother presses her claw against your body and scratches you from your head to the tip of your tail. Then she brings the claw back up and flicks the egg liquid off.

"I should get you a bath and a checkup before your Dad gets here." She bends down and picks you up before cradling you in her giant arms. It is very warm and safe and you love her and she loves you. "Pix, can you guide me downstairs?"

Your sister shakes herself off with a wave of—cold air?—and starts walking forward with one tail held back against Mother's leg. Huh. Pixie has multiple tails. Unfair! You only have one.

Mother opens up a clever barrier from her cave into—Another cave?! Then she walks down the tunnel until she reaches—Another another cave?! And this one feels weird and has strange sounds. You want to explore it but Mother tightens her grip on you. Then the cave stops and the wall slides open into—Another another another cave?! How deep underground were you? Or were you near the surface and you've just been going deeper? Why does Mother live underground in the first place?

"Don't live here," she whispers. "Just staying here for a few days. Also, it's not a cave. Closer to a hollowed out tree." Woah. That's a really, really big tree.

Mother takes you into a big cavern with a female adult leaning on a big wooden ridge. Mother and Sister walk over to the other adult. "Hi," Mother says. "She just hatched and I think she needs a checkup?"

She gently places you down on the ridge. The other adult looks you over. "No problem. Let me call a nurse."

Other adult picks up a strange shiny rock and vocalizes into it. Another adult female, a "nurse," comes over and frowns. Teeth have been shown! Challenge? Mother reaches out and gently runs a claw along your back. No challenge.

"Can I have a name, please?" Nurse asks.

"Cuicatl Ichtaca."

It would be weird if other adults who she was not the mother of called her Mother. It was very clever of Mother to come up with something else to be called.

"Mmhmm. Do you know what this pokémon is?"

Mother shakes her head. Is she dirty? Has an attacker latched onto her? Is she breaking the spine of prey? What is the head shake for? "She speaks a language similar to Upper Draconic. Otherwise, no clue. Hatched from a mystery egg a friend was given."

There's a brief silence.

"Did you say you understand Draconic?"

"Lower and Upper Draconic. They're different languages."

Nurse bites her lip. Surrender? An attempt to draw her own blood so that other predators and scavengers come to her under the mistaken impression that she is wounded, thus allowing her to kill them without having to hunt them down? Provides food and reduces competition all at once. Genius. Almost on Mother's level.

"Can I put that in your file? Dragons are a pain to treat and I'm sure nurses would appreciate it if they could talk to the pokémon and tell it what's going on."

"Just because I can speak to dragons doesn't mean they listen to me," Mother says. "I can try but I make no promises."

"I get it. Please wait here while I get a pokédex. I want to figure out what species she is before I do anything else." Immediately after she starts walking away she turns around to look at Mother. "Are you just guessing she's female or can you tell?"

"Upper Draconic is very gendered. She uses female pronouns."

"Okay." Nurse smells distressed, deferential, confused. Attack? Mother puts a claw under your chin and scratches you really hard and it's wonderful. Wait, were you going to attack something? Nurse comes back with a strange flat rock. She points it towards you and a voice comes out.

Tyrunt, the Royal Heir Pokémon. Unregistered. Rock-dragon type. Prone to angry outbursts. Approach with caution.

The rock can talk! Should you attack it? Neither Mother nor Sister nor nurse move to fight it. You decide to simply watch for now.

Nurse makes a strange grunting sound. Attack? Mother taps your head. Is strange. Probably means should not attack. "What license do you have?"

"Class III."

She bites her lip again because no prey have shown up to be eaten.

"Has she imprinted on you?"

"I think so. She says I'm her mother." She is!

"Do you know what license Mr. Walthers has?"

Mother blankly stares forward and slowly shakes her head. "Who?"

"Kekoa?"

Mother blinks very dramatically because sand or an insect attacked her only weak point like a coward. "Class III. Sorry."

Nurse drives her claws onto a stone in a strange sequence. Eventually she nods her head and speaks while still looking down. "Could you withdraw your vulpix and come back with me?"

"I didn't bring my cane…"

That provokes a dramatic and prolonged exhale.. "Can you withdraw it once it guides you back? Vulpix have a reputation for causing trouble."

Pixie whines on the floor. You don't know why but there might be a threat so you also start roaring too and your sister almost immediately stops and stares at you with her tails pressed down and ears slicked back. Mother slowly and pointedly exhales like Nurse did. "Do you think you can do that, Pix?"

Your sister very softly barks.

"Perfect."

Nurse tries to pick you up and you move to bite her before she pulls back. "Can you carry her?" she asks Mother. "She's being aggressive." Wow. She's scared of your bite and you only have one tooth. Soon you will be unstoppable.

Mother gently cradles you and you go behind the dividing stone into Nurse's den. With the unneeded assistance of Nurse and Pixie, Mother sets you down on a large slab high in the air. She fumbles with something at her waist and there's a red flash of light. You stop hearing sister's heartbeat a moment later.

Did Mother kill her?!

{No.} Mother messages you. In your mind! How?! {She's just gone for a moment. I will bring her back later.}

MOTHER CAN RAISE THE DEAD?!

Nurse puts a wet and warm leaf over your head. It feels like the egg. You press into it and she brings it down your body. Then she rinses the leaf off and does it again. "I asked about the licenses," she says during her second rinse, "because if she's imprinted on you she only requires a Class III. But if she hasn't she'd require a Class IV."

"You're saying Kekoa can't own her?" Mother asks.

Nurse nods right before she presses the leaf down on you. "Not legally. You could still be her legal owner while letting Kekoa do most of the caregiving."

"I don't think she, I mean the pokémon, wants that," Mother says. "I asked her about that earlier and she got very upset."

It's hard to follow the conversation when only Mother makes sense and you can only sort of tell what Nurse means from her tone and actions. You think that Mother is laying out a case for claiming you from Father, though, which is very good. Mother is Mother. Father can help.

Nurse moves the leaf away and takes out a strange shiny object. She flicks a claw against it and a stream of very warm air comes out. You lean into it and watch as it causes the feathers it hits to press down and ripple out. Very warm! Can you nap under this? Does Mother have one? Can she use it maybe every day several times a day?

"You can work that out later," Nurse says over the hum of the air. "Any questions on caring for her?"

"What does she eat?" Mother asks.

That's silly! The same thing she eats, of course. Just regurgitated. Nurse turns the heavenly air off and you hiss at her. Mother presses her claws into your back and that shifts your attention because the pressure is really nice. Nurse bares her teeth. "Good question. Can I go get the pokédex?"

"Yes," Mother says as she moves her claws to ruffle the feathers on your head. Is annoying! And maybe also kind of fun. Will decide after the scritches conclude.

Nurse starts walking away. "Raw or cooked meat is the short answer. Maybe the occasional insect mix or bone tossed in. She'll move on to full carcasses as she grows up." She grabs the talking stone and walks back. "Longer answer is that until she grows her first set of teeth you'll probably need to chew it for her. I think. I'm going to have to call someone off the islands to verify that. Hopefully the egg yolk will keep her full for a few more hours."

"How often will she need fed?" Mother asks. "I know hydreigon eat once a week but…"

What is a hydreigon and will you get a chance to kill one? They might taste good.

"Again," Nurse spreads her lips thin with just a little bit of teeth showing. "Let me check with someone who's cared for a tyrunt before. With any luck I'll have the information in a few hours."

* * *

The door to Mother's den slams open. "Cuicatl Ichtaca, I need you to tell Jennifer that we could use a fuckton of money right about now."

You look up as two angry adults, both larger than Mother, walk in. Both are wet. One is walking in quick, heavy steps while the other stays back and moves delicately. Why are there three adults? There should only be two.

Mother sighs and picks you up into the air. Your resurrected sister immediately rushes in to fill the space on Mother's lap you were occupying. "Your egg hatched, Kekoa."

The angry one, Father, moves over and puts his face uncomfortably close to you. "Some kind of a bird?"

"Sort of. The nurse's pokédex said she was a tyrunt."

Father closes his eyes and practically hisses before stomping off. "Fuck me."

Mother coughs. "She, um. They imprint. Like birds."

Father stops and looks back at you and Mother. "She imprinted on you?"

"Yeah." You can feel Mother's pulse pick up as she lowers you down to the middle of her folded legs, ignoring your sister's hissing. She begrudgingly makes room but continues to glare at you. "She did."

"Fuck me." Father's limbs are shaking and his breath is heavy. He turns to face the entry to the den where the third human stands. "Jennifer, can you give us a minute here."

She slowly turns around. "Yeah, um, I'll be out with Sir Bubbles if you need me."

When the portal closes Father slowly and deliberately sits down on a wooden platform with bedding on it. "Keep her," he says.

"What? That's… a lot."

Father sighs. "I owe you for my earlier behavior."

Mother stops scratching you and places her hands on her legs. "You don't owe me _that _much."

"Cuicatl Ichtaca." Father leans forward and looks at Mother with a terrifying intensity. "I need you to swear to keep this secret."

Mother bares her teeth for a moment before leaning down, touching the ground with a claw, and bringing it back to her mouth. "I swear in the name of Huitzilopochtili to never tell another soul without your permission."

Father slowly relaxes. "I've been lying about my parents. They're dead. I lived in an orphanage."

"I'm sorry," Mother instantly replies.

"Don't be." Father snickers. "You didn't kill them."

Mother exhales and runs a claw through her head feathers. "I meant that I know what it's like."

Father tilts his head and looks intensely at Mother. Not out of rage but concern or wariness.

"You want to talk about it?"

"No," Mother says very quietly.

"Okay." Father takes a deep breath. "Anyways, my brother and I watched Jurassic Park right before everything went to shit. Then once the storm cleared and the death certificates were signed my brother fucked off to the mainland to punch a god or something. Left me behind." Mother is silent. For a few heartbeats so is Father. "I got a letter or a call once a week for a little bit. Then once a month. Then once a year. Then not at all." His voice cracks. Is he injured? He looks down and shifts his legs. "He came back a few months ago. Tracked me down in Paniola. Thinks everything's fucking fine and we can just go back to the way things were before."

"But you can't," Mother adds.

Father nods. "But we can't." His face is already very wet but you swear that a little more flows down it. "I can't take the damn tyrunt. That tells him the debt's paid and we can go back to the way things were before..." He trails off.

Mother gently lifts herself up and pushes you and Pixie off of her legs. "Hug?"

Father walks across the room and embraces Mother in his very long arms. They stand still for several breaths in the center of the den before Father backs away with a muttered, "Thanks."

"You want to cuddle? You can see Mother raise up her arms to her chest and tilt her head to the side.

Father walks back to his bedding and sits down. "Not now."

"Okay." Mother steps back and slowly lowers herself onto the bedding. Pixie rushes onto her and you settle for leaning against her leg. It will be your turn later and you will move her then. "I suppose she needs a name."

"Yeah," Father sighs and leans back onto his bedding. "Just don't name her Chompy."

"I was thinking Mitzcocotonaz, actually."

Father pops his head up a little. "What's that mean."

"She will dismember you."

He flops his head back down. "Fucking metal."

"Fucking metal," Mother solemnly agrees.

It is an excellent name. You will honor it by dismembering many things.

Mother tilts her head and feathers spill onto her face "Now, what were you saying about Genesis?"

You perk up. This is your chance to find out more about the strange third human. The Genesis.

"We caught a castform. She wants to keep it," Father says in a low and monotonous voice.

Neither says anything for a moment. Father shifts in his nest and Mother starts petting your sister. "That's a lot of money," she finally says.

What is money? Can it be killed? If so, why isn't she excited about an abundance of prey?

"Tell me about it." Father sits back up and starts speaking louder. "That's a new tent, a full resupply of potions and pokéballs, a backpack, and as much food as we need."

Mother's face scrunches up. "We have $180 in the bank, right?"

"Yeah."

She stops petting your sister and starts scratching the side of your head with two of her claws. You lean into it and gently growl with affection. "We definitely won't starve. Other supplies could stretch things."

Other supplies? Nest-building stuff? Water? Rocks that shoot out warm air? Those are very important. Something rumbles in your gut. Time to poop. Where? You reach up and gently tug on Mother's arm. She starts and looks down at you. "Hey. Uh, need anything?"

"Where do I poop?" you ask.

She bares her teeth and stands. Your sister jumps down to the floor as she does. "Kekoa, mind helping me outside? Coco needs to go." Who is Coco—oh, you are Coco!

* * *

Outside is warm and moist and absolutely wonderful and you don't know why Mother and Father live inside of a tree when they could be out here. And water is coming down from above you! How! You stare up to investigate it but no answers appear. What were you here for? Oh, right. "Where do I poop?" you ask Mother.

"Anywhere on the green plants."

There are many green plants. So many places to poop! You walk forward and defecate on some green plants just like Mother told you to. Right after you step away Pixie steps up, pops a leg, and pees right where you just went before huffing and walking back to Mother near the tree and out of the water.

Should you follow her? You glance up at the sky again and it lights up and roars in response. You rush back to Mother for protection and she brings you back inside the safety of the tree.

* * *

"As it turns out not many places have hatched tyrunt," Nurse says. "A few hatchlings in Shanghai but they've classified the details. The parks in San Diego and Panama are closed at this hour. Finally got ahold of a safari in Dubai." Mother nods slowly and Nurse continues. "They're hardier than I'd feared and Alola's climate is good for them. Until she starts teething you should mainly feed her regurgitated poultry."

Mother's mouth twists and she tilts her head to the side. "Teething?"

"Yup." Nurse starts rummaging through strange white leaves on her desk until she finally settles on one. "Just like human babies. In a few weeks she'll start biting everything she can wrap her jaws around."

Neither party speaks for a while. You take the opportunity to look around at the strange cave. It takes you a few sweeps of the room but you finally find the warm air tablet. You tense up and prepare to run over to it when Mother resumes speaking. "I suppose I should have expected that."

Wait. Her tone is wrong. Are they talking about you? Is she disappointed in you? Why? You love her and she loves you. For a moent you wonder if you want the question answered but then you decide to ask it aloud anyway. Mother starts before calming down and pressing a few claws into your feathers. When she speaks again it's different somehow. Less clear. More like you talk. Except some of the sounds are wrong. You can't really explain it. "Not disappointed," she says. "Just working out some logistics."

"What are logistics?"

She pauses before answering in the same strange way. "When and where to hunt."

That makes a lot of sense!

Mother bares her teeth and switches back to her smooth way of talking. "Sorry. She just wanted to know what we were talking about. Any advice on getting through teething?"

Nurse grimaces and pushes her hands together so that the claws interlock. "Thick gloves and a firm hand? I've never worked with tyrunt but that's the answer I give for everything else."

"Very, very thick gloves," Mother says with the same solemnity with which she declared your name to be fucking metal. Whatever metal means.

"Well," Nurse says. "Maybe." She ruffles through a few more leaves. "Tyrunt have a strong bite but it's proportional to their size. A young tyrunt isn't exactly crushing steel." She bares her teeth and leans back. "Besides, being able to talk to her in a way she understands is a big deal. If she listens."

A claw runs through your headfeathers. "She's been a very good listener so far." You have been!

Nurse gets up and walks over to a strange blocky object. She opens it and a wave of cool air shoots out. Just like Pixie. You jump down to investigate but Nurse closes it again and the air stops. Then she starts walking back and you jump back up to Mother and almost miss and fall because it's a big jump but she scoops you up and puts you on her lap because she loves you.

"The kitchen staff had some leftover pidove if you want to use it."

"So…" Mother lowers her claws to the table and crosses her legs. "I need to chew it and spit it out to her?"

"That's the idea."

"But won't I pass on diseases or something?"

Nurse shakes her head. "The park in Dubai didn't think so. You're a modern non-pokémon mammal and she's a protobird pokémon from sixty-five million years ago. There's probably not many diseases you could communicate to her."

"Okay…" Mother sounds reluctant but she does reach out and eventually take a small mass of something vaguely meat-scented. She manipulates the object and pulls out a smaller lump that is definitely meat. Mother slowly brings it to her mouth and chews it. You (successfully!) jump the small distance up onto the big flat surface and hold your mouth up and open so that she can drop the food in. After thoroughly digesting the meat Mother slowly leans forward and you start waving your tail back and forth in anticipation.

"You can spit it at any time," Nurse says. Mother does. You immediately snap your jaws shut and swallow the food.

It tastes a little strange. You aren't entirely sure what meat is supposed to taste like but not quite like that. It's still very good, though.

"Now, there's one last thing you'll need to take care of," Nurse says as Mother stands up. Do you have a pokéball on you?"

"No. We have some upstairs."

Nurse moves to put the meat container back into the cold rock. "You can do it there. Or you can bring her back down if you want help."

Mother shakes her head. "I think I can do it." She pauses. "Will a nest ball work?"

"That's what I would recommend you use," Nurse says as she turns back around with bared teeth. "It's the idea ball for most newborns and hatchlings. Just switch her to a more suitable one when she grows up a bit."

"Oh." Mother freezes up. "How quickly do they grow up?"

"Not so fast that we have to discuss it tonight." Nurse walks over and puts a hand on Mother's shoulder. "You've had a long day. Go up and rest. Long term planning can wait for the morning."

* * *

What?

…

Is this

…

This is an egg.

…

Why are you in an egg again?

* * *

You hatch for the second today. Except this time your feathers are dry and Mother's looking down at you and you're both in the same places you were in before you were re-egged.

"Why was I in an egg again?" you ask.

"Not egg. More… sleep." Her face scrunches up and she keeps a single claw extended until she speaks again. "Making you sleep is within my power."

Red light. Sleep. Returning later. "That's how you raised Sister from the dead?" you ask.

She negation growls. "Not death. Sleep."

You think you understood her meaning. The phrases are simple even if she's pretending that she can't pronounce the words. They also make absolutely no sense. Not yet. Maybe they should? You'll think about it.

Mother extends a hand and you rub your head into it. Being hatched is much better than being unhatched. She reaches down and slowly lowers the strange orb in her hands to the ground. Then she sits back up and pulls a giant leaf made of feathers over her. You narrowly manage to avoid being subsumed by it before she finishes pulling it up and lies down. Pixie immediately lunges onto her chest and extends all of her tails over her abdomen. "Let your sister sleep, Pix."

Oh. It is sleep time! Except not in the egg? You push your sister's tails aside and rest on Mother's abdomen. Pixie hisses and glares at you but ultimately just walks around in a tight circle and plops back down so that she's facing you and her tails are resting on top of her. Interesting. You walk in a tight circle but cannot get your tail on top of your body. Unfair!

* * *

Colorful moving images spring up on a rock on the other side of the nesting chamber. If Mother was not giving you and Pixie an abundance of scritches you would go and investigate it up close. For now you can watch from a distance.

Father walks back from the rock and sits down in the middle of the nest. Genesis is on the opposite side with her strange round creature that you are not supposed to attack unless you want to go to sleep and wake up with all of your feathers soaked in water. She also has her Pixie-shaped-plant and a floating white thing that taunts you by staying just out of reach at all times. Someday you will catch it and you will be very satisfied.

Water starts moving on the screen. You stare intently but nothing really changes so you relax a bit and sit down and press into Mother. Then a deep voice starts talking and you have to wildly look around to see where it's coming from.

"Who's the narrator?" Mother asks.

"No idea." Father answers. "Why?"

"He has a very good voice."

Red dot! There's a red dot on the stone. You tense to pounce and half-expect Mother to stop you. She doesn't! You jump off of the nest and charge the stone. Well, charge the tree the stone is on. It's higher up than you expected. Well, you can still jump—red light everywhere.

* * *

This time Mother is staring right at you when you hatch. Same Mother. Same Sister. Same Father. Same extra adult on the nest. Was this—

"Myth," mother says in her broken, stilted speech. "Story. Red prey is past."

It takes you a bit to process that. Well, it takes you a bit to figure out what the words even were. Then it takes you another bit to process. Two bits. "Stone is myth-telling?" you finally ask. Mother nods. Okay. Story stone should not be attacked.

The story resumes.

A fish appears and starts chasing the red lights. Unfair! You want to chase them.

There are scenes of prey. Big, proper prey. Adults, mostly. Too big to attack on your own. But then there's an egg. An egg that rolls all the way down a waterfall and a hill until it comes to rest and—baby prey! You tense up and eye the delicious small baby as adults comes back. You hiss at the adults. They need to stop blocking your hunts.

Finally, thankfully, the baby wanders off on its own. You slowly rise up on your legs and crouch down, tail pressed straight back. Mother says that you can't attack the story stone but you still want to practice stalking your prey.

"Coco's about to pounce," Father says. Mother picks your sleep egg up and holds it at her side, ready to use it. She won't have to because you're very good and won't actually attack the baby in the story. Mother should just be happy that you want to practice so much.

Another baby appears! This one has a wide bony face and is stalking an insect, just like you're doing. But then it fails and gets peed on by the bug. Ew. Now it will taste gross when you eat it. Well, if you could eat it. Squarefaces are often covered in bug pee. That is the important lesson you will take away from this.

The two babies collide and they don't seem to like each other much. You do find out the names for the species though: the long-necked ones are called longnecks and the three-horned ones are threehorns. Very intuitive. You approve. Before you can go back to stalking both babies an adult threehorn comes in and starts yelling.

"Come on, Cera. Threehorns never play with longnecks."

"Bit heavy-handed," Mother says.

"It's for kids," Genesis responds.

Whatever that means, Mother stops questioning the story. The adults come back. Then the kids get lost again. You tense up and shake out your hips a little as you lower down. "Coco's doing it again," Kekoa says.

"And I'm holding her ball."

She is but she won't need it. Pixie isn't stalking the prey but is looking at you with interest. Not that you can figure out what you—

An adult appears on screen. One of your adults! Without any feathers. Strange. You plop back down to watch a proper hunt play out. Except it doesn't. The babies are cowards who cheat and hide behind wood which an adult could totally get through but doesn't for some reason. It is very confusing. No, wait! It's working! The adult has the babies cornered and… and the ground starts shaking as giant cracks open up in it. Adults and babies yell on screen but the sharptooth, you're called a sharptooth!, keeps pressing the attack like a proper predator until—until the longneck mother whips her tail into the sharptooth and knocks it down into the earth.

No! That's incredibly unrealistic. The sharptooth would have killed the Mother and all the babies and gone home to nap. Why are your parents watching lies? You turn around to voice your extreme displeasure to Mother.

"I know," she responds in her rough language. "Is warning. Bad hunting."

Oh. So the real story is that you shouldn't hunt near places you could fall. And that you shouldn't attack young threehorns because many of them have insect pee on them. And that longneck adults are cheaters who sometimes win even though they shouldn't but the babies are tiny and easy prey. And that you should just rip through roots and wood and kill prey as soon as you can. So many useful lessons!

The stone grows darker and the deep-voiced "narrator" starts speaking nonsense again because the sharptooth was killed and stories of its many triumphs in battle must be told. When the narrator stops speaking the baby longneck stands before its mother, who appears gravely injured. This is an excellent time to make a kill. The sharptooth should have just waited for the ground to stop opening up. Another mistake you will never make from now on.

"Mother? Please get up."

"I'm not sure that I can, Littlefoot."

Your mother turns to face the other adults. "So this is a kids movie, huh?"

Father stares impassively ahead, curling his claws around his hands. Genesis starts at the question and shrugs. "I guess? I, uh, I didn't really remember that."

"Rule #12: Jennifer doesn't get to pick movie night," Father commands.

"Agreed."

Genesis snorts and looks away. "Well, sorry I guess."

The adult longneck slumps down and stops breathing.

"Mother? Mother?" The longneck's voice drops. "Mother? Please get up."

"Holy shit." Father whispers. His eyes are wide and his claws are still curled. "What the actual fuck?"

The rock turns black. When color returns the baby encounters a giant armored beast with spikes on its back and a tail club. How would you kill that? Is the belly armored? You can't tell. As long as it is on the rock you will do your best to figure it out.

"Oh, it's not your fault. It's not your mother's fault. Now, you pay attention to old Rooter. It is nobody's fault. The great circle of life has begun. But see, not all of us arrive at the same time."

You smell something behind you. A glance shows that there's strange water near Mother's eyes. She crosses her arms across her chest and takes long, distorted breaths. Is she under attack? Did more terrible sand strike her eye? Pixie stands up on her hind legs and presses her paws into Mother's chest. She unfolds an arm and pulls your sister closer. Out of the corner of your eye you see Father look over and immediately look away.

Unsure of what to do, you turn back to look at the story stone. The baby is alone now. It appears to be weak and starving. Almost unconsciously you start to crouch again at the opportunity to—a tail flicks your leg _hard_ and you take off before you can even figure out why you're running.

Red light engulfs you well before you reach the stone.


	15. The Trainer and the Tower

CN: References to suicide, police brutality, ICE.

**Normal 1.15: The Trainer and The Tower  
**_Lila_

* * *

Once upon a time a powerful trainer named Lila defended a tower in Hoenn.

{Supūn.} The alakzam stands at attention. You wave a hand over the assembled crowd. {Start evacuating. Ask the pokémart staff in Ever Grande for ethers if you get tired.} He leaves.

"Shida, Hirune." Your cradily and snorlax look towards you as they materialize. "Shida, use vines to hold the foundation together. Hirune, start shoring up the building with boulders." You have no idea if that will work. You make sure not to let your pokémon know.

"Den'atsu." The manectric barks. "Go up the hill and try to draw the bolts towards you."

Finally you send out Mangurōbu and Opera. Your two first pokémon. "Mangurōbu when you rematerialize push all of the water away from you and off the roof. Opera, I need you to take me up." Neither object as you withdraw your starter and walk towards Opera. The altaria settles low enough for you to get onto her back before she starts ascending. She's slower than normal. It takes you a second to realize that altaria wings could get really, really heavy in the rain and you've never felt a downpour like this in your life. "Come on, keep going," you mutter. She gives an adorable war cry and continues to ascend. Slowly ascend. Now she's not even breaking even. You prime your swampert's pokéball and lob it onto the roof. A flash of light tells you it was successful and you tell Opera to go down.

There's a presence in your mind. Something impossibly _big_ is looking right at you. "Protect!" you scream. For a second you think that you're doomed. For a second the red light stands up against the rain. For a second it stands against a hydro pump. For a second you fly back into the wall as the shield breaks.

You use every bit of telekinesis in your body to slow your fall.

You take stock once you hit the ground. The presence is gone. The titans are focused on each other again. Your quick thinking and Opera's best efforts mean that only _most_ of your ribs are broken. Opera is—oh. A quick press of a button confirms what her neck already told you.

* * *

A blast of staggeringly bright green light strikes the roof. A fissure opens up and swallows your living fossil back into the earth. The cliffs freeze as kyogre grows frustrated with her lightning being redirected.

* * *

There's a knock at the door. You don't say anything. Don't move. Barely notice it. The door opens anyway and you see a white man in a suit enter. He walks over and sits down in a chair in front of you, between you and your pokéballs.

"It takes guts to teleport into the midst of fighting gods."

You don't know where he's going with this. You let him continue.

"I should thank you. Two-hundred and thirty-six lives were saved." And four were lost.

No. Far, far more than four.

"So," the man leans back and clasps his hands. "What comes next for you?"

You open your mouth but the reply dies in your throat. What does come next? It was going to be the League but with four pokémon down you have no chance. No desire. League matches are controlled but you'd always be scared that two would become one.

He smiles. "Nothing?"

Nothing.

"Then may I offer you a job? I believe the International Police could use a daring hero such as you."

"Not a hero," you croak out.

He raises an eyebrow. "You put your life at risk to save others."

You stare at him. He stares at you. Eventually he gets the hint, slides a business card into your hand, and leaves.

It takes a while. Four months, in fact. But eventually you call the number and say yes.

* * *

If you'd known seven years ago what you know now you wouldn't have accepted. Not because of the danger. Quite the opposite, in fact. You'd much rather be fighting ultra beasts than facing your most dreadful opponent of all: meetings.

The other participants—Gladion, the kahunas, Admiral Wilford, and Governor Fisher—are already present when you and Looker teleport in. Selene was probably invited but since she's always either very early or not attending at all you're willing to bet that she's not coming today.

Once you're seated the admiral clears his throat. "Good morning and thank you for coming. I would like to begin this month's meeting by discussing the recent activity of the Skulls."

"Must we?" Hapu asks. "They're small time criminals. I would prefer that we stick to the UBs."

"They were 'small time,'" the governor says. "That is no longer the case. Now they're revolutionaries." You can't help but roll your eyes at the seriousness with which he says absurd things. "We've found pamphlets that say as much".

"They're kids who are mad at the government." Hapu crosses her arms. "Do we need the military, the police, _and_ the kahunas to go after them _now_?"

_Now_, of course, is a time when aliens show up in Alola one to three times a month.

"Especially now," Admiral Wilford answers while puffing himself up a little and glaring down at the teenage kahuna. The latter doesn't so much as blink. "They're testing the waters. Burning buildings. Scaring off tourists. Stealing from trucks carrying construction materials. Who knows what they'll do if we don't show them that their actions have consequences?"

"I think we can all agree that no one wants a city taken over again," Governor Fisher adds.

"You're playing into Plumeria's hands." Oh boy. Gladion's defending Team Skull after you fought so hard to get him and his Silvally onto the council in the first place. You don't disagree with him. But he really needs to learn to read the room, manage his reputation, something. "You crack down on them. People get hurt. People get killed. That gives her propaganda and reasons to escalate. You want to really piss off the natives? Kill a bunch of their kids because they broke some shit."

Red and teal flare around the table. Anger and conviction. You should step in. Or watch. They want to talk about the skulls they can talk about the skulls. Yeah. Watching is fine.

"If we let the rebels do whatever they want then we might as well just hurry up and surrender to them."

Is Plumeria's approval rating higher than the governor's? You don't actually know at this point. Probably not a good idea to ask. But you can quietly look it up under the table. She wins 27 to 23.

The admiral and the governor keep blustering at Gladion and Hapu. The older kahunas stay out of it but from their emotional colors you're pretty sure that Molayne agrees with the governor and Olivia and Hala side with Hapu. Experience tells you that Looker's against the skulls. Counting votes leaves you four to four. Time to tiebreak.

"Can we vote on taking direct and coordinated action against Plumeria as a council?" Formal. Maybe too formal for Hapu and Gladion. Glances are shared. Eventually Molayne shrugs and gives you a 'sure' of approval.

Four votes for action, as you predicted. Four votes against plus your own. No need to waste time and resources on some kids with middling pokémon and no idea what they're doing.

"Well then," the admiral crosses his arms and actually _growls_. "Anything else we need to talk about?"

"VStar," Olivia says in her distinctly kind-but-no-nonsense tone.

"What about them?" the governor asks. "And why talk about them here and not at the ecology board?"

Judging by his emotions you're pretty sure that Rachel has him wrapped around her finger. You'll need to have another talk with her. She's not actually a controller and you can't punish her just for being an effective lobbyist but sooner or later the wrong person will get too paranoid and you'll be left to clean up the mess.

"Tapu Lele's taken notice."

"As has Tapu Koko," Hala adds.

"And Fini."

For a long moment no one dares to speak. There's an interesting mix of anger and solemn acceptance around the table.

"So what," the governor finally says. "They're going to throw another hissy fit and destroy a city if our democratically elected government doesn't bow to their every whim?"

"That's possible," Olivia says in a neutral tone you couldn't have managed under the circumstances.

"Could they withhold assistance against the UBs?" you ask.

"Also possible." The Akala kahunas looks towards you with a neutral face masking sadness and anger.

That's bad. Even with the tapus you're barely eking out wins and every loss has the potential to snowball if defenders are killed or demoralized. "I think it might be worth appeasing our allies, then."

"Selene's beaten Tapu Koko, right?"

"I've done what now?" The champion enters the room. Her emotions are a mess and you're pretty sure she's got a new scar or two from the last time you saw her. Definitely a little bit paler. Someone else follows her. A woman in a spacesuit with gray skin. You can sort of see her mind's colors but they're subtly wrong. Tones you usually don't see in configurations that don't make any sense.

The woman outlines a square with her hands. "Alola, people of Alola."

Selene sits and her guest follows. This is the first time that the champion's brought someone back from Ultra Space. "Now," Selene says as she sits down at the head of the table, "I would like to hand off the discussion to my new friend, Soliera."

Hala starts but gets shut down by a glare from the champ. He takes the message. Whatever was being discussed before can wait for now. Soliera clears her throat. "Good day. I am with the Ultra Recon Squad." Multiple eyebrows are raised and heads are tiled. No one but Selene seems to actually know what that is. Thankfully the alien gets the hint. "We monitor and police threats in Ultra Space. It gives me no pleasure to inform you that one is heading towards your planet."

"On top of the ultra beasts?" you ask.

She makes a clicking sound with her tongue. "This is far more serious. There are light-based beings that roam the void. When healthy they are benevolent and freely share their energy with others. They are called necrozma, blinding ones, guiding lights." She closes her eyes and her voice drops lower. "When they are wounded they seek out new worlds to drain the light from to heal themselves. They can drain countless worlds and still never be content. One took notice of yours after a strange spike in energy four years ago. It should arrive in less than one of your planet's orbits."

Of course it would. Because on top of everything else Alola needed a world-ending monster dropped right on top of it. The universe can't let you keep six pokémon for long.

* * *

"Hey! Wait up a sec!" you turn around to see the new Ula'Ula kahuna chasing after you. Smiling on the outside. Smiling a little less on the inside. Molayne runs a hand through his gray hair when he catches up. "Mind if I borrow your Ultra Scanner? There are some improvements I want to install."

"Please do. Want a ride back to your lab?"

He nods enthusiastically as you hand over the device. "Yes, of course."

Supūn ferries him over as you consider your schedule.

* * *

The North Point Pokémon Center is close enough to your condo that you can just walk. Might as well since it's a very nice day. Warm with a mild sea breeze. Gives you some time to glance over the files you have on the new girl. Cuicatl Ichtaca. Long green hair, dark skin, cataracts. Kind of gaunt. Citizen of Anahuac. Two pokémon registered. Vulpix, OT Raphiel Brooks. Tyrunt, OT Cuicatl Ihctaca.

Tyrunt? Really? How? Why?

American mother but no citizenship. Arrived on a challenge visa September 20, 2019. No official record of her powers. There are a few documents from Anahuac attached. Strange mix of terrible and stellar grades. Legally emancipated from her living father. Deceased mother and twin—oh shit that was three months ago.

You've seen the statistics and the reality enough times to know that surviving psychic twins are more likely than not to die within the next year, often by their own hand. It's concerning to say the least. You'll need to do a full scan. You'd need permission but as the semiofficial regulator of the Alolan psychic community you'd be the one to semiofficially grant it so—approved. Full scan is semiofficially legal now.

Your mind bushes against hers well before you reach the center. A quick glance shows that she's on a bench overlooking a golf course and the ocean. Well, if your mind has found hers she's probably aware of you so there's no time to go back into the records.

"Hey, I'm Lila."

She turns towards you and smiles at an invisible person to your left. "Cuicatl Ichtaca. Good to meet you, ma'am."

"Sir," you correct on reflex. Her expression wavers and her feelings, slightly obscured behind anti-telepath defenses, shift to shame. You wave off her concerns. She doesn't notice.

"Are you trans?" she asks.

"Sort of." You sit down at the bench and glance at the two white pokémon—wait does that tyrunt have fluffy white down feathers? Anyway. Gender. "Non-binary, I think." Haven't had another psychic outright confirm it to you. Not sure what the confirmation would even be worth since minds are internally inconsistent and can change by the minute.

The girl doesn't say anything. The vulpix on her lap stares at you and the tyrunt behind her on the bench stands up tall to get a better look. Onus is on you to restart the conversation. "Enough about that. You can call me Lila."

"Cuicatl Ichtaca." Every time she speaks she sends you a psychic signal. You'd been letting them bounce off your shield but maybe you should actually read one. A few thoughts set up a quarantine. "Both words," she practically whispers. It sends out a signal for you to translate. 'Both words.' In Japanese. No accent. Huh. That's probably her specialty. You leave up a few mental stopgaps but otherwise let yourself receive the messages. Kid's not attacking. Looks way more scared of you than you are of her.

Wait, did Rachel tell you about your formal job? Because if she only knew she was talking to a cop, well, in this climate you really couldn't blame her for being terrified. "What were you told you about me?"

"You watch over the psychics on the islands. That's all." She starts ruffling the fur on her vulpix's head. Nervousness? "Did I do something wrong?"

She's done a few things that weren't ideal. She should've reported her powers right off the bat. Rachel might be able to get things smoothed out but in any event it would look too much like the community protecting its own from otherwise neutral laws. Not a great look. Unfortunately you're in a position where the best thing for her, you, and the community is for her to just not report it.

"No." No reason to tell her about all of that. It would scare her and kids can do dumb things when they're scared. As can adults. "I just like to check in with new psychics on the islands. Welcome them to Alola, talk about options, lay down the rules, the usual."

She frowns. "Miss Bell said you would talk to me about schools."

Makes sense. They'd probably be good for her Having a structured, supportive environment is seldom a bad thing.

"Right. There are a few schools on the mainland. Probably one in Anahuac."

"There is," she mutters. "They use us as spies."

Oh. Well. Tiny blind girl might not be the best spy. Too noticeable. But the language filter would help a lot.

"The government doesn't make psychics do anything here," you lie. White lie. There's registration, occasional psych evals, semiofficial supervision, a few laws that Rachel likes to come dangerously close to breaking… and annual talks with CIA and FBI recruiters. The recruitment talks are mandatory but accepting isn't. The distinction would probably be lost on her anyway.

Wouldn't matter. She still doesn't seem to buy it.

"Any particular reason that you aren't interested?" you ask.

"Money."

Well. She'll get along fabulously with Rachel, then. Or they'll become business rivals and die cordial but mortal enemies.

"School would be free for you." That one isn't even a white lie. The government would much rather have psychic kids in one place where they're easily supervised and sheltered from the worst of poverty during their formative years. Lessons learned from the empath defectors of the Cold War.

"No." She shakes her head and green locks fall into her face. "I need seven hundred and eighty-one thousand dollars."

It sounds like a joke but she's dead serious. You reflexively switch into cop mode. "Why? You on the run from—" Cartels. The government.

Rebels.

American-born mother. Green hair. Language-based telepathy. Hell, you're pretty sure you heard somewhere that one of his cousins was blind. You take a deep breath. She has far darker skin than you'd expect. You could still be wrong.

"Any of your ancestors Korean?"

The girl blinks. "My grandmother. Why?"

"My former boss might've worked with a relative of yours." Hard to even call that a white lie when 'worked with' means 'hunted.' Unsuccessfully hunted, but hunted nevertheless. Probably for the best there. You don't want to imagine his old boltund trying to take down Zekrom. Anyway, time to bring him into this.

[Can I ask you a question about N?]

[Yes.]

His absurdly prompt responses stopped surprising you years back. He's probably slightly precognitive. Truth be told you were already typing your next message out.

[He ever contact his birth relatives?]

Something starts beeping incessantly beside you. Supūn is standing there with the new Ultra Scanner in hand, lights blazing and sounds blaring. You snatch it away from the pokémon and shut it off. Supposedly there's a UB right on top of you. "Excuse me for a second."

You get up and walk far enough away from the bench that even with the girl's blindness-enhanced hearing she won't be able to overhear you. Then you dial the Ula'Ula kahuna. He picks up on the third ring.

"Hello. Any problems?" He sounds cheery enough. Something deep inside of you wants to rip into him even more for it.

"I set it off."

You can hear the awkward swallow over the line. "Okay. Uh, send it back and I'll see what I can do." He clearly wants permission to end the call. You won't give it to him.

"You know I hate it when this happens, right?"

"…I can imagine how you're feeling, yeah."

"No. You can't."

The Kahunas lied to you. Looker lied to you. Supūn lied to you.

Everyone lied to your face for years and now he pretends to know how you feel.

* * *

On May 7, 2014 a wormhole opened near North Point. Two police officers showed up to investigate, prepared to fight whatever demon game through. They found a young woman covered in bruises. She was asked her who she was. The asker isn't in the record. The woman answered in Japanese. A few minutes later she would be translated as saying:

"My name is Lila. I come from Hoenn. I was a powerful trainer who defended a tower."

There were six pokéballs on her belt. Four were broken. One held a snorlax, the other an alakazam.

The alakzam introduced himself as Supūn. He told the men that his trainer was psychic and Ultra Space with its alien minds slowly eroded hers. He only kept his sanity because his trainer decided to keep him in his ball as much as possible and rely only on herself and her other pokémon.

Apparently she found her way out.

The alakzam translated the woman's words. The words that she continued to mumble to no one in particular while picking up sand and letting it run through her fingers and onto her tattered, blood-stained clothes. He said they were true. He refused to provide more context. He'd lost some of it himself. And he said then as he would say many more times in the future, "Knowing what she had wouldn't make her any happier now."

She was taken to Tapu Lele. He made the woman whole by shredding everything that was real and weaving a lie between the words she'd said. A lie that the International Police supported with forged documents and even an actress claiming to be her mother. A lie that conveniently left behind a faller willing to do exactly what the lie's crafters wanted from a faller.

Convenient how that worked out.

At first you'd accepted their explanation that you'd fought enough UBs that the aura just rubbed off on you and drove more near. As you learned more and more about them you slowly realized that's not how things worked. Eventually everything fell apart after you really dug into your documentation.

Now you keep living the lie because what else are you going to do? Abandon the people to alien ambushes because their leaders were manipulative? Doesn't mean you have to be happy about it. Doesn't mean you'll take it when a kahuna rubs it in your face.

You end the call to find a text from Looker.

* * *

[Sounds like something he would do. Why?]

Deep breath. You didn't come here for N. You didn't come here for your own demons. You came here to do a wellness check on a child. Everything else can wait a few minutes. {Supūn, I need help doing a silent scan.}

Silent scans are one where the target doesn't notice. On a trained psychic they're next to impossible, even with pokémon help. She's not trained. Rather than smooth walls her defenses are ever moving chainsaws. Most of it will hurt if touched. It's good combat form. Not good standing form. Leaves holes. You point out one you'd noticed to your alakazam and he forms the link. Alright time to look.

While you have some telepathic power you're fundamentally an empath. You don't look directly at the structure of her mind, just the impressions that things have left. Easiest to do for connections to other people.

It's immediately obvious what parts used to directly connect to her twin. Apparently a functional relationship. Differentiated personalities. That's good. Means they shared less. Makes it easier to cope. Not easy—it still looks like her mind was messily sawed in half and error reports stack up every minute when an old routine doesn't work. Could've been worse, though. Whatever consolation that is.

A few slightly atrophied connections. A father figure, an older sister(s?), and a younger one. A mother figure grouped separately from that cluster. That one is particularly strange. Almost like hero worship. Very few meaningful connections but a very clearly felt absence. Only been frayed for a few weeks, though. That one might require a deeper file review. Maybe even some document requests to Anahuac.

Then someone who was probably her actual father. Solid links to her and a bunch of the twin's old emotional pathways seem to lead there. Oh boy. Some love, a lot of distance, fair bit of pain, and a very serious break around the time of the twin's death. Then spite. It's new but it already deeply stains her perception of him.

A few minor ones. Casual friends, teachers, distant pets, maybe a crush. None truly defining in her mental architecture. None terribly missed.

New connections. Ones formed entirely after the loss of the other ones. None that span both periods. Strange. Not calling home at all? Two fairly advanced links to other minds. Her pokémon. Complicated but satisfactory relationships. They give her headaches but probably also cuddles. Good, but not enough to anchor a person with. There's a third recently broken link. More positive. Fewer headaches. Almost as much love as her starter. Relationship severed against her will. Connection's become linked to the parent-sister figure clusters. Loss. Less hope of recovery. Were the other three pokémon? Possible with her powers.

Two main human links. One has deep rings of annoyance and pain with a sheen of reliance and hope on top. Other is the opposite. Mostly positive with a level of fear and distrust at the surface. Neither is really deep enough to be sustaining.

Rachel. Her mind signature mixes in a little bit. Fear, disappointment, some feelings similar to her parental figures. Authority. Authority that's failed her a little and helped her a little.

Well. That's all the new ones. Now for the biggest one. Her impressions of Cuicatl Ichtaca.

Bad. Deeply, horribly bad. Years long trails of hate, disgust, disappointment. Small threads and spots of love. Of hope. Recently blunted. Feelings turned decidedly darker and dimmer with her twins death. A step away from ending things, which is a half-step further away than she'd been only a few weeks ago. Slight progress. Not enough progress. You're not comfortable adding her to the list of the dead yet but if you were a betting woman, well, you wouldn't bet against it. You've seen happy people destroyed by their mind being shattered. She wasn't happy to begin with.

You close the link and hand the scanner back to your alakazam. He teleports off without a word and you walk back to the bench. Kid's a little paranoid. Probably because a cop walked off to make a long call after a very odd exchange.

"Hey, sorry, work called. Anyway, I have one last thing to take care of."

"Okay…"

You really need to stop saying cryptic things and cutting off. Kid's going to be justifiably terrified of you.

"Tapu Lele," fuck him, "gives new psychics on the island a z-bracelet. Can I put it on you?"

She smiles a little. Inside and outside. "Okay."

Fits perfectly without adjustment. That's rare. Maybe the tapu had already scouted his new subject out himself. Wouldn't be the first time. "Now, want to try it out?"

"I have a Normalium-Z," she answers. "Pixie knows roar."

Of course she already had a plan. Got her first Z-crystal and immediately thought about how she'd use it if she could. Roar's a good testing move, too. Don't need to put a pokémon in the way of it. Might piss off some golfers and you'd have to investigate yourself for a noise complaint. Nothing too serious.

"Alright, put the crystal in." She takes out a smooth black case with one white crystal and seventeen empty spots. Heh. They're really giving kids full cases. Encouraging them to seek out the hard ones, too.

You guide her hands through the (relatively simple) motions for the normal crystal. Her vulpix lights up and an instant later an ear-piercing shriek rumbles down the cliff. Some people start below. Let them. You remember the first time you used a crystal. Good memory. One of your first fond ones that was actually—Cuicatl collapses to her knees. Right. Shit. Rough on first time users.

You kneel down to help her and when you take her wrist you notice that her pulse is going crazy, her eyes and wide open and. And she bends over and pukes. Her tyrunt rushes over but you push her aside. Bit rougher than your first time. She got vomit in her hair so you go behind her and hold it back in case she has to throw up again. She does and—seriously what is it with this dinosaur and vomit? At one point her arms give out and you catch her and oh wow you can really feel all of her ribs. Her heart is still trying to shake itself free of its constraints.

Extreme thinness. Self-hatred. Possible poverty? Cause doesn't matter. You really shouldn't have given her a Z-crystal. Damn it. Should have noticed.

"Mind if my snorlax carries you?" A weak nod. You send her out and gives the order.

Right after Cuicatl's safely in the bear's arms you feel her slip into unconsciousness.

Fuck.

* * *

Her heart was still beating and she'd regained consciousness when you dropped her off. A few hours of watching your police scanner and the Center's called for neither an ambulance nor the police. She's probably fine.

As fine as a suicidal teenager living in the path of a wanted terrorist and a light-stealing abomination can be, anyway. No. Don't think about necrozma. Not now. Problem for future Lila. Focus. Good things.

When Supūn brought back the scanner back it didn't instantly flag you.

That'll have to do for today.

* * *

_Broken Things will return with Mission 2 in 2020. The Alola Pokedex will continue to update in the meantime._


	16. Recap 1

cn transphobia/ableism

**Recap 1**

_Genesis_

So, um, you already know all of this. You know everything. You're Xerneas. But I'm also allowed to tell you anything, right, and I thought I should work through some stuff before we head off to Ula'Ula.

I guess this begins with Sarah but I would rather not talk about that. You already know it anyway. Maybe begin with VStar? Sounds good. There was a whole orientation thing and I got to meet a bunch of people and they went over stuff that I sort of remember. Pay is low but I suppose I shouldn't complain given the circumstances. Later got paired with Cuicatl and Allana.

Should I describe them? I want to a little bit. Like I'm talking to a friend. None of mine are talking with me. They don't have my new phone. Cuicatl's blind and she had really nice green hair but then she cut it and it's a little less nice. Her eyes still kind of creep me out but she's really nice and good with pokémon, like her adorable little holy vulpix.

Allana's… she was probably pretty. I think she's changing. I've seen her inject herself and I think she's starting to get a little bit of stubble. I don't know if it's reversible. I hope it is. Should I throw out her drugs to protect her? I know I'm not supposed to steal things but you can't be okay with what she's doing. I know how this happened, too. She's angry and kind of controlling so someone probably convinced her she had to be a guy.

It's really sad.

Then the journey happened. I'm praying for her. Right now, in fact. May she find peace and guidance back onto the right path.

Paths. Journey. Sir Bubbles and I set out to Akala to make money. Still not sure how much money we're going to need. Haven't heard from my parents yet. I pray that they accept my apologies soon. Not that I don't deserve to be punished but I think this is probably fair.

Oh, I got to ride a mantine on the way to Akala! It was really, really fun. I know you aren't a sea god but I felt like I could feel you there. Thank you for creating mantine. And the oceans. And poliwag.

Right. Sir Bubbles and I got attacked by Team Skull. Some nice bystander stepped in and saved us which is good because brave, brave Sir Bubbles boldly ran away right into danger. He's not very smart but I love him.

I almost got to capture an eevee. But then an ariados got it. I'm not sure how to feel about that. I know you created ariados and they need to eat but it still felt a little wrong seeing it. That's not insulting your creation, of course! I just don't understand it right now. I pray for wisdom on that.

I won a trial! Dad's chess games paid off and I got to skip right to fighting the boss, a giant oranguru. Sir Bubbles put it to sleep and then Inferno managed to damage it enough that it gave up and showed me a Z-crystal. That I can't use yet. I pray for a Z-Ring.

Wait. Inferno! I forgot Inferno. He's just the cutest little leafeon. Smells like leaves. Loves cuddles. Doesn't actually do much. Anyway her old owner was very mean and abandoned her when she didn't evolve into a flareon. I hope he believes in you so that he can be forgiven. Otherwise it's ironic. Going to an inferno for abandoning an Inferno.

Which might not be funny. I'm sorry to remind you of the people you can't save.

Later on I caught my newest team member, Count Cloudy! She's just the cutest little castform. The best part is that I don't have to sleep in a tent that's getting rained on again. Allana's mad, though. We could have made a bunch of money if I'd turned him over. Cuicatl says that we have enough for food and we already have a tent and clothes and stuff so I don't see the problem.

So. Um. Yeah. I don't know how to end this.

I pray for safety on Ula'Ula and luck in catching pokémon and friendship and maybe healing for Cuicatl and insight for Allana?

Amen

_Kekoa_

I know this was for logging transition stuff. But. Don't want to take pics today. Not much different. Got my period last week. Cuicatl Ichtaca says that my voice is a little deeper but I think she's just being nice. I guess I smell different? More pimples.

That's it.

I'll write about the journey here.

Met Cuicatl Ichtaca and Jennifer. Jenny's a haole bitch. I treated Cuicatl Ichtaca like one. She's cool tho. More later.

Went to Akala. Mantine riding sucks. Jenny seemed to like it. Made her more of a bitch. I fucked up on food and had to eat white sludge shit and gritty eggs and potatoes. Otherwise good gear picks.

I went home. To Paniola. Couldn't make myself talk to Kanoa. Did meet Jabari. He doesn't get it. Maybe never will. I was mad. Snapped at Cuicatl Ichtaca. She outed me. Met a cool kanaka man on Route 7. Cuicatl Ichtaca talked with me. We buried the hatchet.

Still not entirely sure I should have. She definitely knew I'm trans when she misgendered me. Outed me. But she's here alone and tried to be nice. I'm trying to forgive her. Move on. Even if she doesn't deserve it. Oh also she has her own secret. Rather not say in case the cops read this. Still not sure how I feel about it.

Won a trial.

It was hard. Kanoa beat me at chess. Hekeli took out her pikipek with two hits, no damage. Then totem oranguru. Hekeli hits hard. Maybe too hard. Got me a talk about force early on. Don't know what the nurse was thinking. Pikipek hit as hard as they want. Anyway. She didn't hit hard enough. Had to rely on Makani. But! The oranguru used trick room. Makani was super fast and bit the totem until it gave up.

Kanoa and I talked some more. She gave me her number. Doesn't hate me for leaving. Seemed to pity me. Fuck that. I'll still text her. She seems happy. Trial captain and everything. I owe her a real match when I'm stronger.

I have two pokémon now. Hekeli is still a pikipek but I think she might evolve soon. "Evolve." Cross the arbitrary line. We don't really hang out much. I think she likes fights. Cuicatl Ichtaca says that she needs a reason to stay. I hope fighting works.

Makani the grubbin doesn't really listen to me. Smart enough to bite at stuff attacking him. Prone to spitting string on my face.

Cuicatl Ichtaca thinks it's fucking hilarious.

…it kind of is.

Oh. Right. One last thing.

My brother tried to give me a fucking tyrunt egg. Because last time we spoke I was in a dinosaur phase. Thing imprinted on Cuicatl Ichtaca. For the best. It'll piss Jabari off.

God damn that girl is going to have a keokeo and a tyrantrum.

I should tell Plumeria about her. Figure out if she can be used. Or how we'll fight her if she'll stand against us.

_Cuicatl Ichtaca_

I don't know if you can hear me. I hope you can.

Please don't wait. I told you before but I'm worried you ignored me. Go. Please. I could be a while.

I'm on my own journey. Boring compared to yours. No rivers of blood and jaguars. I'm in Alola now. Tried to go to Unova but couldn't get the visa. It's tropical, humid. There are even mountains. It feels more like home than I'd like.

I have a starter. Her name is Pixie. She's an ice-type vulpix. Incredibly soft, really prideful, less smart than she thinks she is. Reminds me of Alice, just not strong enough to back her words up. Yet. The people here worship ninetales as ice gods. Someday she'll be really powerful. Not quite hydreigon level but really what is?

There are aliens here. They attack at least once a month. Really strong trainers are sent to catch or kill them. We went through a forest burned in one of those fights. I don't know if the trainers "won" or "lost." There's a difference between knowing that the world may end in a few years and living in a place where it's happening now. One of my friends here was in Japan when Quetzlcoatl appeared. I wonder how he feels, seeing the wrath of gods and monsters twice in his short life.

I guess I should tell you more about my friends. Kekoa is the one I was talking about. He has a pikipek and a grubbin that don't really like him. Maybe he can fix it. He was really rude to me for a while. I hit back. I don't want to talk about that. He's accepted me for now. I told him about my powers. I know I shouldn't have but it felt right at the time. He really cares about his home. Wants the colonizers gone. Can't blame him. They ruined Anahuac with a treaty. Can you imagine what it would've been like if they'd actually taken over? Anyway. Kekoa's angry. Hurt. I understand that. Maybe we can help each other.

Then there's Genesis. She's kind of the opposite of Kekoa: really sweet seeming but mean at the core. Kekoa's trans. Genesis follows the deer cult. She's been misnaming him in her head. I can't really say anything about it but that's going to blow up. I'm taking Kekoa's side when it does. Maybe she'll learn. Maybe we'll kick her out. I'd feel a little bad. I don't think she wants to be here. There's just nowhere else to go. Hopefully she'll hate being alone more than being nice. If not before she's alone, than after.

I had a little paras for a while. Five of them but I really only talked to one. She was kind. A little dull. Thought that everything she saw was the biggest, coolest thing ever. Pixie didn't like her. She's very jealous and I think she would've killed the poor paras if I hadn't gotten rid of one. I wanted to make Pixie leave out of spite. But I need her power more than I needed the paras's.

Power. Two more things I want to talk about.

I got a tyrunt.

Kekoa's brother… details don't matter. Don't know them anyway. The egg was supposed to be Kekoa's but the hatchling imprinted on me. Tyrunt imprint! Like birds! And she has super soft down feathers and, um, needs her food regurgitated. Like a bird! And she's also a dragon! Sort of. Her language is a little like Upper Draconic. How old is that, anyway? I know it's for myths and I always knew the gods were old but… that's very, very old. Were they the same gods? Quetzlcoatl wouldn't have to change for the dinosaurs. Did the others?

If I was at home I would ask a priest questions until he stopped answering. Maybe you can ask Xolotl for me.

I named the tyrunt Mitzcocotonaz, or Coco for short. She's very smart for her age. Knows about hunting and what parents are supposed to raise her (although she still thinks either she's a human or I'm a tyrantrum). Is that normal? Tyrantrum are supposed to have been smart and raised their young for a long time. Why would she need that much instinct? Did the people who made her put it there? Remember how in the book of _Jurassic Park _the pyroclaptors murdered everyone because they only had instinct, not learning? Maybe the scientists had read book and gave her more instincts.

Why give her the murder instincts, though?

Scientist were probably more concerned with whether or not they could give her murder instincts than if they should. Only explanation.

I also got a Z-Ring. Knocked me out to use it. But the strange thing is that it felt… familiar. Second-hand familiar. From someone else's memories. Couldn't have been you. _Maybe_ Mom, but I don't think she ever used Z-Power. Maybe it's third-hand. Memories that Mom or Renfield took from someone and then gave to me on accident. But who? Who did she know here? Are they still here? Can I meet them?

I guess you want to know how I'm doing. I'm holding on. Barely. Pixie and Coco help. I miss you. I miss Renfield, Alice, and Searah. I miss Mom even though I never got to meet her.

I can't get you back. Or Mom. But her pokémon…

I don't care what I have to do. I'm getting Alice back.

I swear it on your grave.

_Normal updates resume February 9._


	17. Six

Mission Two: Electric

It is the triumph of civilization that at last communities have obtained such a mastery over natural laws that they drive and control them. The winds, the water, electricity, all aliens that in their wild form were dangerous, are now controlled by human will, and are made useful servants.

-Henry Ward Beecher

* * *

**Electric 1.1: Six  
**_Pixie_

11/16/2019

You jump into Skysong's lap as she sits down in front of Matriarch. You can feel the pink eevee's eyes boring into you but if you get into a fight now your trainer will be mad so you won't because you're a very well behaved fox. Mostly. You turn around and stick your tongue out at it before settling down. Let him be jealous of your perch. _He_ isn't cuddling anyone.

"How was Akala?" Matriarch asks.

"Good. I won a badge." She scratches your ear and you press your head into her paw with pride. "Got a new pokémon." You abruptly slink back down and suppress a hiss. "We caught the pokémon we were supposed to." She sounds a little angry. Why? You helped her find prey. Well, not her prey. Humans sometimes trade their prey with other humans for reasons that you still don't understand.

Matriarch makes a low throat noise that humans sometimes use to respond to things without speaking. "And how are you holding up?"

"Fine."

"You sure?"

"Yes."

Skysong's heart rate is up and you can smell her stress responses start kicking in. Will you get to fight the eevee? Sure, the green eevee cheated so you narrowly lost but you can definitely take this one and show Skysong that you're much, much better.

"If you say so," Matriarch concedes. "By the way I don't think you ever told me why you're going on a journey."

"Money."

Matriarch leans back and her voice shifts to something a touch quieter and softer. "And what's the money for?"

There's a pause of several shallow breaths as Skysong's face scrunches up and her paws clench.

"Some of my Mom's stuff."

"Okay." Matriarch sighs and you can feel her body shift. "If you want to tell me more you can."

"I don't want to."

"Well, if you want help finding things I do have friends in Unova." Pause. "And the Anahuac pokémon markets."

Your trainer's breath catches in her throat and you seize up, ready to blast out ice shards at the smug ugly fox in the corner. Finally she lowers her head and exhales.

"If a hydreigon gets sold in Anahuac, can you let me know?"

"I'll see what I can do."

Skysong's heart rate starts to slow a little. No eevee fight. What a shame.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Matriarch offers again.

"No."

"Okay."

Someone drums a paw on the wood above you. Not entirely sure who.

"I'm going to need a Class V license."

"Yes. I'm trying to find a mentor for your IV." More drumming. "You have an idea for your V paper?"

"A draconic dictionary."

"That's what I would recommend."

The rest is boring. The eevee never attacks you and you never get an excuse to attack it.

It will live for now.

* * *

Pale red light rushes all around you before fading, leaving you intact.

Mission accomplished.

"What was that?" Growlsleeper grumbles on the other end of the room.

"Pix and Coco were going at it again." Skysong sounds tired. Not just because it is night and she is diurnal; you woke her from her sleep because Eggbreath was pressing against you and soiling your precious fur. Skysong gently presses you off and slowly gets to her feet before finding her hooves and stick. "I'll take her out for a minute."

Yes! Eggbreath is gone _and _you get to go outside!

You move a few steps ahead of her and make sure to have very loud steps so that she can follow you because you are a very good guide fox. Eventually you step out into the—it's raining. Oh no. Thankfully there is a climbing structure under an overhang that you can lead Skysong to so she can sit down and pet you and only you for maybe the rest of the night.

She sits down. You jump on her lap. The headscritches are very half-hearted. Disappointing. You press your head into her hand so that she knows to do better.

"You know," she says while not petting you harder, "She's going to be forty times bigger than you someday."

It takes you a second to convert from her terrible numbers into the correct ones. Forty is forty-four. A good, symmetrical number. "And I'll be forty-four times stronger." Or you could just kill her before she gets too much bigger than you. That's always an option.

Skysong shakes her head. "You've seen the movies, right? You know what tyrantrum, sharpteeth, whatever, can do?"

"Fail to kill baby pokémon and then fall into a lake and die?"

That does earn a muted giggle and an ear scratch. "Or kill off a clan of pyroclaptors. Fire-types. She's good against fire-types."

"Fire melts ice into water. Fire-types hate water." How does she keep forgetting that?

"How about the sun? She loves heat and light. You don't. She can guide me in hot cities."

On one level you want to object. Badly. Your trainer spends more time in the warm than the cool and this is a chance for Eggbreath to persuade her to leave you. But being offered a reprieve from your worst duties is good. And someday you'll be cold enough that the heat won't bother you. You concede with a huff. Eggbreath can die after you evolve and command the blizzards.

Skysong switches to giving you long strokes from your head to the tips of your tails. This is also good petting. You purr so that she knows to do this more often. For a long time she continues. It's nice. The sounds of the wind and rain are a little like those of snowstorms raging above your den.

It ends right as you're about to fall asleep. You're too calm to complain until Skysong picks you up into her arms and stands up. "Please be nice to your sister," she whispers.

No.

You hiss and squirm out of her arms and start growling the moment you hit the ground.

"No. Not my sister. My sisters are on The Mountain."

"Oh," her face falters and her scent shifts. "I didn't know you had family."

She says it like she's sad that you do. Why wouldn't you? You had to come from _somewhere._

"Do you want to talk about it?" She crouches down and offers more scritches with her hand. You don't take the bait.

"No." Of course you don't want to talk about them. Especially the living one.

The one that Avalanche thought was better than you.

* * *

11/18/2019

You reappear next to Eggbreath on a long metal strip jutting out into the water. Before you can further process things your trainer bends down and starts putting your harness on. Eggbreath is already in the very short leash that Skysong uses because even she doesn't trust the demon bird. Once you're buckled in she gently picks you up and turns you around to look at—

Oh.

The Mountain is right there, looming on the horizon. A pillar of white in a landscape of red rocks and blue skies. "Are we going there?"

"No. This is as close as we'll get." She silently strokes your head. "Do you want to?"

Do you? Someday, yes. When you can go back and beat up a whole pack of redcrests and drag the corpses to Avalanche so she knows that she chose wrong. Once you're sure she'll lick your head and send one of your siblings down in your place then you'll return.

Now… you know you can't face The Mountain and win. Not after it killed so many of your siblings.

"No. Not yet."

Eggbreath starts wandering off while Skysong's holding you in one arm and petting you with the other. You shriek alarm to let your trainer know that there is misbehavior afoot. "Thanks," she mutters in a tone that does not sound sufficiently thankful. She sets you down somewhat roughly into a patch of sand and calls Eggbreath over. The beast complies and rushes back with her leash dragging behind her.

Skysong ruffles her headfeathers before picking up the leash.

The nerve she has.

* * *

11/19/2019

"Behave yourselves" is what Skysong said before curling up and falling asleep on the sand.

Eggbreath is not behaving herself. Instead she's harassed an armored beach spider into its hole and is trying to dig down after it. You'll let her. When Skysong wakes up you'll have a long list of the demon's transgressions ready to go. She'll be horrified and immediately send Eggbreath away and then you'll have time to get any new team members kicked out before she can decide that you aren't worth it and leave you behind as she walks away with two inferior pokémon.

There's a pained cry and shaking sounds. You look over to see the beach spider pinched onto Eggbreath's nose as she slams her head into a rock to get it off. Your ears perk up. Maybe Eggbreath will get herself killed. Or at least get hurt so badly that Skysong realizes that she's way too weak to stand alongside you.

The spider lets go and Eggbreath scurries off to find something else to murder.

Your gaze falls upon the green eevee and you reflexively growl. He's just lying their on your beach. Menacingly. Like he owns it. Like he's better than you. He isn't! Eevee are beneath you and Hummy and Rocktosser were wrong to think otherwise. They probably failed their quest because they pushed you away and kept some pathetic little stupid weakling in your place. Maybe they died because the little asshole they kept couldn't save them from a monster.

Serves them right.

No. You can't allow the eevee to take naps so close to Skysong. He's a threat to you and your trainer. You slowly rise up and creep closer to the abomination. Your paws are built for walking silently on snow and sand is close enough. His chest rises and falls as he menacingly breathes in his sleep.

You take a deep breath and unleash the most perfect of slushballs. A perfect hit to the face. The demon's ears stick straight up and he starts shaking to get it off of him. He turns and you see one eye covered in snow as the other narrows into a glare. The eevee steps forward and—you fly through the air. Once you skid to a halt the eevee—how did it move so fast?—steps over your belly and lies down on top of you. Then his head dips and his eyes close again.

No! You flex all of your muscles and squirm madly to escape your captor. He's not much bigger than you, this shouldn't be hard! If only you weren't on your back. Then you could just press off the ground. And breathe normally without a fat eevee crushing your lungs. After a few glorious minutes of struggle you come to accept that the eevee has cheated too well. You will need to summon help.

You scream.

Just when you think that your mighty roar might go unanswered something rushes into your peripheral vision and slams into the eevee. As the smelly stupid fox gets knocked off you roll over and bare your fangs to meet it. With a quick glance to—Eggbreath. Huh. The bird holds her mouth wide open and swishes her tail back and forth.

"What's going on?" Skysong asks.

"The eevee attacked me!"

"Playtime!" Eggbreath says while slapping her tail into the ground.

"Is anyone hurt?"

"No!" Your traitorous "sister" replies.

"Cool."

Skysong rolls over and puts her head back down on the sand.

Eggbreath growls and lowers herself into a pouncing position. The eevee just stares before turning to look at something on the beach. It's a small bird. Not even a pokémon. Eevee's glance is enough to get Eggbreath to notice and she runs off to harass it. Leaving you alone. Which is fine. You can still defend your honor and protect your trainer from the deceptive fox in front of you.

The monstrous plant sits down on his haunches. "Why do you care so much?"

You hiss in response.

"If I did anything to you…"

"You're trying to steal Skysong!"

He blinks and swishes his leaf from side to side.

"Who?"

You stamp a paw. How dare he play dumb!

"My trainer!"

Slow blink. Leaf swish.

"Why would I want to?"

Because she's your trainer and you're the best and that means that she's the best trainer! Your thoughts come out more as a irritated screech than proper language. He sits down and tucks his legs under him.

"Why would I steal her when I could just join your team?"

"She already has two! One would have to leave." Obviously. He's just toying with you now. As he keeps staring at you with his big stupid eyes you start readying another attack.

"You know humans can have six pokémon, right?"

Lies! Terrible lies! He's trying to get you to let your guard down so he can sneak onto the team and convince Skysong to make you leave. Just like every other eevee. You're smarter now than you were in the past. You'll stop him. Kill him if you must.

Eggbreath leaps over and kicks up sand on impact. She immediately dips low to the ground and softly growls while the tip of her tail carves an arc in the sand.

"Play!"

* * *

Skysong grabs her stick and you follow close behind. Eggbreath stirs as if she wants to follow before giving up and settling back into the blankets. Ugly diurnal baby bird. So much better than her. You help without being asked.

Where is she going, anyway? There's a scent marking station inside of the room.

Outside. She's going outside and sitting down on a structure like the one back on the other island in the city. You hop up as she sits down.

"Why are you harassing Inferno?"

Oh. Now you get to tell her everything that the eevee has done.

"He attacked me while I was trying to sleep and then he said mean things and tried to make me stop breathing and she also attacked Eggbreath and she's going to hurt you someday."

She presses your ear down before withdrawing her paws. Skysong sighs and folds her arms.

"Pixie, I don't like it when you try to hurt my other pokémon. Or Kekoa's. Or Genesis's."

"You should. They're lying to you. Trying to steal you."

It's simple, really. How can she not get it? She picked you. That means she's smart.

"Pix, I've told you this before." She sounds irritated. At the eevee? Good! Skysong is finally getting it. "If you want to stay on the team I won't kick you off. Promise."

Lies. The others all made promises. They all left you behind in the end.

"Did you get left right after you got jealous and attacked other pokémon?"

You hiss. She may your trainer but she has no right to say those things. "I am not jealous of _eevee._ I am _much _better."

"Of course you are." She gives you a thorough headscratching in apology. "Maybe your people left you because you got scared they'd leave you so you started acting out. Made them ditch 'mons they cared about. Cost them sleep. They got fed up. Decided you weren't worth it." She's wrong. It's not so simple. Besides, you tried being nice on The Mountain. Look where that got you. Her hand presses down and gives you a few gentle strokes down your back. "I won't leave you," she lies. "Unless you want to be left. You don't have to fight to stay. Promise."

There is a way that the promise can hold. "No more pokémon."

"Why?" She asks like an idiot.

"Won't have to leave anyone unless there's a third."

Her hand pauses in the middle of your back and gently presses down. "But I can have six?" No. That's not possible. Two. Avalanche kept two. Hummy and Rocktosser and Lightstare and Lowgrowl all kept two. It's a law of nature. Nine is the best number. Three is the worst. If there can't be nine, there must be two. "Genesis already has three, y'know? She's not leaving any of them."

That's a—the green eevee, spiralfrog, and the shapeshifter. Three. She has three and none of them are trying to kill each other. That's. No. That. They all had to leave you. _Had to_. Thought you were worse than eevee. If they could keep you then. Then. You were worse than nothing.

You are worse than nothing.

Skysong flips you onto your back and presses you into her chest. You barely notice. If she's lying than she'll leave you. If she's not then she'll hate you someday because. Because everyone else has. Why does she pretend to care? What is she planning? She drops you back onto her lap and leans back. Her pets grow slower. It doesn't matter. You have things to think about.

When you finally look back up she's asleep and the sun is awake.


	18. Worlds That Never Were

**Electric 2.2: Worlds That Never Were**  
_Cuicatl Ichtaca_

* * *

24/3/2014

A low hum of disapproval fills your mind.

{You're hurt.}

"Yeah, I know." You scout for your favorite spot with your feet and then sit down. "Thanks for telling me."

{I warned you about overusing your powers.}

"You did."

Why does Renfield care? He doesn't have to deal with your headaches.

{Ah, but I care about you. If you're hurt, I'm upset.}

"Why care?" you grumble. "Mom's been dead for years. You could've left."

When Renfield laughs it sounds like bubbles floating to the surface in your mind. Somehow. Maybe he can teach you. {When Nari found me I was a mere solosis. I cared for nothing. Did nothing. Just sat still in the sunlight and attacked anything that came near. She raised me. Taught me strategy, empathy, history, literature, and music.}

"You can sing?"

More mind bubbles. {Well, she taught me how to appreciate music. She used to sing a lot.} Like you. And. "Did she name me for that?" Cuicatl means song. Ichtaca Secret song. Or song of secrets.

Something swishes from side to side at your mind's edge. No. {As I understand it your father named you. She would have picked… I suppose it doesn't much matter.}

So your dad named you things that weren't what Mom wanted, right after she died? Why? Did she name Achcauhtli so they both got one? More swishing. {No. They could never agree on a name, or a language for the name. I suspect that Nari would have given names at birth and refused to accept others. As it were… the chance did not present itself.}

You pick up a pebble and roll it in your fingers. It helps you think. "They fought?"

{On occasion, yes.}

Your finger slips and the pebble falls. "Over what?" You reach down. Can't find the exact pebble. Pick up another one. Coins are better but you aren't allowed to have them unless you're going to the store.

{They both loved you, even before you were born. They wanted the best for you but disagreed on what that entailed.}

There's hesitation in his voice. Half-truths. You want to press him but he knows that you know and since he's not saying more he probably won't if you challenged him aloud.

"What was my name supposed to be?"

{Child, you have nothing to gain by mourning worlds that never were.}

Mourning worlds that—now he's just not making sense. On purpose. "Don't care about worlds. Just want to know what my name was." You wouldn't actually adopt it. Dad would be mad. And your classmates already think you're the enemy's child.

Searah saves him with an excited squeal and the plodding of clawed feet. You smile and wave to her. The name can wait. She hugs you by gently placing her front claws onto your shoulders and pressing her warm, fuzzy body against your chest. She's pretty heavy for her size and you need to press your hands back behind you to stay sitting up. Easier to hug her when you're lying down.

"Hello, girl." She backs away and sits down right in front of you before pressing her snout into you and sniffing all over. It's weird. Freaked you out the first time. Now you think it's cute. Her tongue flicks out and curls around your neck. "Okay, that's enough." You roll your eyes at the heatmor's angry huff and stick your legs out so she can lie on them. She does.

Her fur is very warm. It's nice for a cool, cloudy day in the mountains. The moment is simple, perfect. Still just a moment. It must end. Laundry and cooking left to do.

Searah protests as you try to move your legs out from under her. If she stayed put she could stop you from getting up. She's done it before. {Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine. More cuddles later?} You stroke her back as you slowly get to your feet. Legs aren't asleep. If you'd stayed any longer they would've been.

"Of course. Cuddles later." Wait. Is Renfield still here?

{Yes.}

"You can move things with your mind, right?"

{Yes.}

"Then you're helping me with laundry."

{Can I come?!}

The thought of long claws cutting through cloth crosses your mind. "Not now. I'll warm up some water later. You can light the fire for that. Or be the fire."

{Fire!}

"Yes, fire. You're very good at fire."

A surge of pride flows into your mind as the heatmor stands up on her hind legs to hug you goodbye. You return it and your sister wanders off to find more bugs to eat.

* * *

21/11/2019

You have a plan for surviving this mountain.

First, keep track of your footsteps with a marching cadence. Second, match your breathing to it. Third, just keep powering on whenever you trip. Fourth, think of nothing else but your breath and the cadence.

It's not working very well but you're still not willing to call it a bad plan. No worse than whatever Kekoa or Genesis are doing if their breathing means anything.

"Break," Genesis cries out between steps. You hear her lumber off the trail moments before her pack crashes into the ground. You're quite happy to pull aside and gulp down water with her.

None of you understood how bad Route 12 was going to be. No shade, constant sunlight, and even the earth itself radiates warmth. You're slowly being baked alive and the paths are all uphill and full of loose rocks and abrupt steps to work around. Pixie would help but you can't keep her out in the heat and Coco… well, she's still a hatchling. Tyrunt or not she tires quickly and gets distracted even quicker.

The last water bottle, Kekoa's, probably, gets stowed away. No one's drinking anymore. No one's asking to end the break. "Maybe we could hike at night," you suggest. "Less heat."

"Too dark," Genesis answers. You attempt to make eye contact, lids as far open as you can get them. "And, um, predators," she quickly adds.

"I'd rather be awake when the houndoom come," you reply in the best deadpan you can manage.

She shuts up and Kekoa softly laughs. It reminds you of every other conversation you've killed for being too dark, of everyone in town who feared the dragon girl too much to reach out. For the best. If they feared and avoided the dragon girl they weren't mocking the child of the northern enemies or the helpless blind girl or the stupid kid who kept getting held back.

Kekoa breaks the silence. "Not at night. We'd be tired, make mistakes. Early mornings are fine."

Funny. Right now you're so tired that you could collapse right now and sleep in the warm sunlight. Maybe never get up.

That means you need to go. Now. Before you actually do stop moving and set up camp away from water.

"Ready to go?" you ask, even though you aren't ready yourself.

Genesis groans but responds with a "Ready." Kekoa lifts up his pack and takes a few steps onto the path before saying as much himself.

Breathing. Cadence. Breathing. Cadence. On and on and on.

* * *

Kekoa and Genesis are setting up the tent and suspending the food bag. You're sitting on what Kekoa insists is the least uncomfortable rock in the campsite running one hand through Coco's feathers and the other through Pixie's fur. This isn't a bad place, all things considered. A stream runs nearby so there's a small forest with some shade. Sure, it'll draw predators and prey closer to camp than you'd like but you expect most will leave the humans alone. Inferno can probably scare off the rest. Not that you'd ever say that aloud with Pixie in earshot.

You're going to cook today. Or at least warm some stuff up on a tiny stove. Anyone could do it. You certainly don't want to. Not when your legs are dead and your arms also hurt for some reason. You will. The others are doing their chores. You won't be deadweight. Not while you're living out your dreams.

Footsteps approach and someone sits down beside you. Coco, traitor that she is, jumps off your lap and demands pets from her dad. Pixie immediately flicks her tails out to cover all of the space she can.

"You okay?" Kekoa asks. You process the words and belatedly nod. "You don't look okay."

Rude.

At least he shuts up before he overstays his welcome.

For a while.

"Can't believe we're doing all this for some damn noobs." You tilt your head and angle it in his direction. "Bunch of kids in Sinnoh have convinced themselves that 'vire is gonna be the next big thing. Shot up the price worldwide."

"Oh." It makes sense. Honestly you thought that people would just use them as generators or something.

You hear Genesis crash down some distance away. "When's dinner?"

Rude.

You stretch out and revel in the pain of a thousand aches. "Can you get me the stove and food?"

* * *

Vegetables and rice are easy enough to warm up. What's harder is hearing Genesis scrape her bowl clean while you and Kekoa wait for the meat. Even with Pixie's cooler you still wouldn't have brought any if Coco didn't need it. Big health risk. You don't want to get diarrhea in a place where you have to dig your own toilets. And Coco makes you chew and spit. It's too close to something else. Having a Z-Crystal that might make you puke doesn't help with that.

You still do it. Coco breaks away from her father and thumps her tail on the ground to tell you that she's present and wants her meal. It's cute. Even if the rest is gross and makes you feel even grosser.

Pixie flicks a tail against your ankle to tell you that she is also present and would like food. Jealous little shit. You give her about half of your portion of meat. She keeps it cool so it's her right. Besides, the vegetables are good.

Dinner's quiet. As usual. Everyone's tired and hungry.

You wouldn't mind going to sleep soon. Especially if you're going to get up early tomorrow.

But you should train.

It's pretty hot still. Not fair to make Pix exercise.

Yeah. You'll get some sleep before the tent gets crowded.

* * *

You have to pee but there's something outside. Somethings. Not talking. Just knocking pebbles around. Making quiet steps. One brushed by the tent a while back. Maybe you should wake Pix up. Maybe you shouldn't. She would growl. It would either scare away whatever's outside or start a fight you might not win.

A pokémon makes a soft grunt. Another agrees. Neither gets translated. Dark types? Or was there just no meaning in the sounds? There's the soft trickling of water—scent marking over Pixie, probably—and then the pokémon head out. Manectric? Houndoom? You wait another five, ten, maybe thirty minutes and hear nothing more. Gods you have to pee. Is it safe to go out? You want to wake up Genesis to have Inferno with you. She's on the opposite side of the tent so that would wake up Kekoa. He'd give you shit.

You slowly start to lift yourself up, earning a soft yip from Pixie as you do so. There's rustling next to you and you freeze up. Another shift. "You goin' ow?" Kekoa drearily groans. Genesis starts moving as well.

"Yeah. Can Inferno come with?" The grass-type makes his distinctive leaf swish noise. Yes. You unzip the tent, awkwardly feel for your shoes, and step out into the surprisingly cool air with Coco and two foxes at your heels. After zipping the tent back up you reach for Pix and bring one of her tails to your leg. "Bring me to a rock."

She starts walking off. Coco bounds away and you telepathically scold her. Her tail drags on the ground as she slowly comes back over.

{New scent!} she says. {Like Sister. And fire!}

Houndoom, then. Inferno won't do much good if they come back.

Pix flicks your leg. You're far enough away from the tent and at a good enough place to pee on the rocks. Dry area. Pokémon look for the salt and moisture. If you peed on a plant it might get ripped up. Inferno would be sad. More sad, anyway. Still not sure what his deal is. If you ask you might get close and accidentally take him away from Genesis. It would be unfair.

A small rock falls a few meters away. All three pokémon abruptly stop and look towards it.

{Floating rock.} Pixie says.

"Arms?" you whisper.

{Two.}

Oh. Could be worse. You start walking back to the tent and your pokémon reluctantly follow.

Genesis passes by on the way out. For a moment you consider telling her about the houndoom. You don't. They're gone now and she would get scared and freak out and then you would be on edge the whole night for no reason.

Plus if they did come back and decided to attack, well, there's probably nothing to be done.

* * *

A bead of sweat hits the bridge of your nose. The cadence and rough breaths continue. One hits your shoulder. Not sweat. Rain. Just a sprinkle. A fat drop hits the top of your head. Another on the shoulder again. Another on—they quickly blend together too much to keep track. Thunder. Loud, fast, sharp. Close. Another bolt just a little bit further away. How? There hadn't been any thunder before—electric-types. Electric-types everywhere. You're on a barren mountain ridge with electric-types everywhere. For once in your life, you're the tallest thing around.

"There's a valley to the side," Kekoa says. "We need to get down."

He's right. But. "How steep?"

"Not too bad."

"I… don't want to trip and hurt my ankle again."

"Yeah, well, you want to get electrocuted?"

Genesis slides down—roughly. If she's struggling while sighted and with long legs—another bolt. Frighteningly close. You feel the hair on your arms rise up and you run to the side. As if you could dodge fucking lightning. You feel it when your feet hit the incline and you start to slide down on a wave of pebbles. Bend down. It's how you—the strike is so close that for a second you can hear nothing but faint ringing.

If you're fucking deaf on top of everything—the slide breaks as you reflexively twitch and you fall flat on your face. Again. For the second time in two weeks. Don't care. The rain intensifies and you're drenched and cold and there are scrapes on your face and you still can't hear much at all. No. You can hear the thunder again.

Cold comfort.

Maybe someone says something. Maybe they don't. For a long time you lie face-down as water streams down all around you and thunder continues to rock the mountain. When it finally stops it's just as fast as it came. A minute later you can count the drops again. Soon there are none at all.

Sharp stone edges meet your hands when you press yourself upright. It's fine. You've faced worse. Just a quick pivot and a small shift to be facing uphill. "Are you alright?" Genesis asks. Voice full of concern.

"Yeah." Sort of. You're stronger than you look. Sometimes. Are you? Yes. Not doing this now. "How bad's the climb?"

Gravel shifts as heavy footsteps bound upwards like a capricurl walking on a cliff face. Kekoa probably. He confirms it a moment later. "Climb's bad. Jennifer and I can help you up."

More footsteps. Far more slips. Genesis finally makes it up with no serious falls but much less grace than Kekoa. You pull the straps on your pack tighter and prepare to climb.

Kekoa does his best to guide you up the slope.

"Root to your right."

"That patch looks loose. Half-step—shit, are you alright?"

You bite back a curse and steady yourself. The patch _was_ loose and your left foot slipped at a bad angle. It pulses in pain within your boots. Bad, but not quite as bad as in the forest.

"How much left to go?"

The words are more aggressive in the air than they were in your mind.

"Uh, Jenny, can you see if you can reach her?"

She can. She does. The rest doesn't hurt too badly. Soon you're on mostly flat ground.

"'m fine." Mostly. Fine enough to walk. "Thanks for the help."

"You sure?" Kekoa's tone makes it sound closer to: 'You aren't.' "Looked bad. And that's the ankle you hurt on Akala, right?"

"Yes. I'm fine. I can walk."

You aren't a burden whatever anyone says. The wilderness has always been your home. If you can hold your own anywhere it's here.

"We can stop at the next campsite. Don't have to go all the way to ours."

Can't he take a hint? You're fine.

"Whatever," you respond. "Ready to hike?"

Genesis grunts and Kekoa speaks: "Hike on."

Cadence and breath. Right foot. Left—right foot. Quick steps and firm resting ones. It's fine. You're fine. You've powered through far worse. The humidity is worse. Hot, sticky air that hangs on your skin like a wet blanket you can't take off. That's worse. It's fine. you're fine

Kekoa's footsteps stop and you stop—take a step forward and rest on your right foot.

"I'm calling it here for the day."

Idiot. "People will notice if we're late."

"We'll be even later if you can't walk 'cause you hiked six miles on a bad foot to look tough."

You want to fight. Insist that you can keep up. Aren't the weak link. But he's right. You are. Useless. Might as well admit it.

* * *

"It's not too swollen," Kekoa says. "Just keep an ice pack on it."

"We don't have—" Pixie. Right.

You reach into your pack and release your pokémon. Coco roars at the air and thumps her tail in case you sent her into a fight. Pixie just swishes a tail against your leg to tell you she's there. You reach back in and pull out a small but surprisingly heavy rubber ball. Once Coco starts growling you toss it off for her to play with. Who knows how long it'll last once she gets real teeth but it's a nice distraction for now.

"Cool. Call me over if you need anything."

Kekoa trudges away and you gently pick Pixie up and move her next to your ankle. With another quick movement you drape one of her tails over it. "Can you keep a tail there?"

She grunts and settles down. No complaints about the heat or Coco. Nothing to say at all. You messed up and pressed her too hard too fast. Broke her. As usual. Ankles, brothers, starters, selves. You're a master at breaking things and a failure at fixing them.

Coco's small but energetic footsteps come back and the ball drops with a 'thud' to the earth. You reach a hand out and hold it right over where you think the ball is. A finger flies down and Coco leaps forward, bats your hand aside, and snatches the ball up in her jaws before running away. Odd. Usually she just gets excited when you do that. For the best. Ball was coated in spit. Didn't really want to touch it.

A cramp hits you right in the groin. You wince and awkwardly adjust your good leg in response. The trail hasn't been good for you. Started eating too much. Period came back. You'd cut back but when you don't eat and hike too much the world starts rocking and you start making dumb mistakes.

"Mother! Why are—" You silence her with headscritches. "I'm fine, Coco. Just laying an egg."

She drops down to the ground. "New sister?" …you walked right into that one.

"No. Just an egg. Won't hatch."

She doesn't get up but her tail starts swishing in the dirt. Doesn't matter. She'll get bored soon.

"Hey, Genesis!"

It takes her a second before she trots over. And finally answers. Like she couldn't just call back from across the clearing like a normal person. "What?"

"Can you get me a tampon?"

"I, um, uh, yeah. Sure."

Why is she embarrassed? She probably gets them most months, too. And she knows that Kekoa's trans so there aren't even any biological men here to get grossed out for no reason. Is she actually embarrassed or did you just catch her at a bad time. Ugh. Move blushes to the top of body language you wish you could see.

Genesis drops the tampon and some new underwear in your lap rather than just handing them to you. "Thanks." Maybe you could lie down just a little bit longer? No. You like these shorts. Better take care of it now.

* * *

"Hey, uh, this is our campsite?" Some kid announces his arrival while you're still getting changed under the rain fly. Coco reacts to the new voices by slipping under the fly and running out doing her best impression of Pixie's barks. The fox herself just sighs. {You can talk to me about anything,} you tell her for the third or thirteenth or thirtieth time.

"Sorry! One of us got hurt in the storm so we stopped early," Genesis says.

"They okay?" Another kid. Female? Or maybe just very young. Or both.

"Just tripped. I'm fine!" It's not the best line for making an entrance but it works. "I think there's still room for two groups." Going by clearing echoes, anyway. Most sites seem big enough. It's a good guess. Satisfied that her mother can deal with the intruders, Coco stops barking and runs back to you for praise. You bend down to give her scratches. Pixie butts in a second later for her share. You make sure to give her extra.

Sometimes you swear that you can hear staring. Only question is if they're staring at you, Coco, or Kekoa. "You blind?" You, then.

"Yes."

You're blind and you hurt yourself (again) and he'll tie the one to the other and he won't be entirely wrong. Genesis didn't trip. Neither did Kekoa.

"Cool. Ice-type trainer?"

What? Sure, you have Pix. But Coco's. Oh.

"No. She's not an ice-type. Just has white feathers."

"We haven't introduced ourselves, have we?" Genesis interjects. "I'm Genesis, she's Cuicatl," she says with mostly correct pronunciation, "and… that's…"

By the suns. She set herself up. Kekoa's either too far away or too uninterested or too cruel to finish so for a few seconds it just hangs in the air. "I'm Kekoa."

He had to have noticed, right? Will he say anything? You'd been hoping to push back the Genesis-Kekoa fight until Pix had returned to something close to normal. Gods. Not here. Not with kids watching.

"Cool. You want to battle?" one asks. "I'm Ty. I am an ice-trainer and I want to fight your vulpix."

Kekoa sighs. "I'll ref."

* * *

Pixie starts to growl. _Eevee._ Glaceon. You're fighting a glaceon. Time to stall and put together a plan.

"How far are you in the challenge, Ty?"

"Two grand trials. Beat Sophocles and heading on to the next. You?"

If you ever had hopes of winning a slugfest they're gone now. "One trial."

Ice shard's as good as useless. Left with three utility moves. Roar, baby-doll eyes, confuse ray. Stalemate? Good for a friendly match on the trail. "Did you grow up near Lanakila, then? That how you got the vulpix?" He seems interested. You can stall. _Maybe_ even get in some baby-doll eyes before the match starts. No. That affects humans, too. He'd notice.

"I'm from Anahuac. I adopted her in Hau'oli."

Kekoa clears his throat. "I lived near Tapu Village for a bit. Bunch of ice-types there even without climbing."

Pix has probably readied her opening moves. Time to get the show started. You stretch your mouth into a big, maybe fake-looking smile and clap your hands. "Great! You two can talk about it in a minute. Ty, I accept your challenge!"

Your heart pounds in your chest despite the low stakes. You can win this. Show Pix that she's better than an ice-type eevee. Or no worse than one. Maybe make her happy.

"Alright. One on one. Don't hurt each other too badly. Potions ain't cheap."

"Snowflake, go for an ice beam!" Snowflake. Oh no. Did he get it as a glaceon? Or was he setting up an Inferno situation? Doesn't matter. You snap your fingers and think your command as cold air rushes past your feet. Shit. Big hit. Is Pix—

She growls and the cold air stops coming. The attack landed. Moment to think. You could try baby-doll eyes. But if Snowflake knows ice beam, if that's its go-to move, then maybe it wouldn't do much. Two snaps. {Roar into ice shard.}

Usually roars are wordless. Meaningless, at least. This one isn't. There's a lot of meaning in the scream. Most of it profane. All of it angry. You can practically _feel_ Pixie baring her teeth and venting days, no, years, of rage at one frozen—not practically, you _can_ feel all that. You close your eyes and draw your mind in. The link becomes quieter. "Come on, substitute!"

Baby-doll eyes and confuse ray are useless. Pix is sounding a little hoarse. Time to attack. {Don't need to lose your voice. Now,} "Ice shard!"

The scream becomes a hiss as the cold air whips back up. In front of you. To your left—"Don't have the confused 'mon use ice beam," Kekoa reprimands. Right. The downside of relying on confusion. Someday you're going to get hurt. Maybe you'll care.

"Alright, I forfeit." Pix growls and you don't know if it's at a still-present glaceon or a stream of red taking her target away. "Good play, there. Ordering confuse ray without a word." If you had given a word he'd have the time to shout 'Close your eyes!' or something else annoyingly simple and effective.

"Thank you." You hear Pixie scamper over for her reward scratches, which you happily provide. Should you praise his glaceon? You should. But Pix is here. How to word this… 'Your glaceon was way stronger is definitely out.' Not returning a compliment sounds bad and he'll be here for a few hours.

In the end, Kekoa saves you. "You wanted to talk about the Mauna, right?"

"Yes! So, like, when you say there are a bunch of ice-types at the base, what are you counting as 'the base?'" Their voices start drifting away and you take the chance to sit down. Pix immediately jumps on your lap and Coco comes running in from somewhere to lean against your side.

"You did good work, Pixie." She huffs with a hint of pride. "Need any healing?"

"No."

"Okay." You hadn't felt any wounds on her, anyway. Just a slick of ice in her fur. She's probably glad to have it between the ground heat and warm air.

* * *

"That, uh, looks really good." You start and almost tip the stove over. That was the girl in the other group. Forgot her name. Way close. When did she get there? You're not easy to sneak up on.

She starts to stammer out an apology but you cut her off. "It's fine. Really." Silence. Well, near-silence. Kekoa's playing fetch with Coco. The stove's sizzling. Genesis and the ice-trainer are talking. No. Not silence. Still awkward. "What do you usually eat?"

"Freeze-dried crap_._"

"What are you making tonight?"

"Freeze-dried crap."

Poor thing. "Why? You have ice-types. You can keep real food." Pixie grunts and plops down beside you. Snuck up on you. Again! At least she has padded feet.

"Wouldn't that be super heavy?" The girl's voice is quiet and monotone. Difficult to find emotion in. Hard to tell if she genuinely wants to change or just wants your food for the night.

"Do you have any big pokémon to carry things?" You almost add 'That won't shit on the trail,' but everyone in that group sounds young and not much bigger than you and they don't deserve to eat sludge every night.

"Um. I have a trevenant. But she's really slow. Then Ty trains ice-types that don't like heat. And Matt has poison-types." She pauses to find a way to say the obvious. "I don't want poison on our food."

Fair complaints. "You have a type as well?" Wait uh. There's an English expression that.

"I train plants." Okay good. Didn't take that the wrong way. "You don't have themes."

You flip the vegetables. Or some of them. Hard to make sure you flip them all and that none fall off of the tiny stove. "Sort of? Genesis is making a rain team." Although she might not know it yet. "Kekoa has fliers." Or future fliers. "I like big predators."

Here comes the silence. The dragon girl silence. Hello, plant girl. Good riddance.

"That's so cool." Um. "I mean, dangerous." What? "But cool."

"Thanks?" Seriously, what? That's not supposed to happen. Especially not from plant girl. "Not that dangerous? Most mons _could_ kill you. Some are nice enough to remind you." You thoughtlessly take the vegetables off the stove while your brain is still struggling. "Plants are also cool I guess?"

Plant girl gives a short, bitter laugh. "It's fine. They really aren't. Most of them. My decidueye just evolved and she's great. Distant. Protective. Still cuddly."

You rummage through the food bag to find the sliced pidove breasts. It requires pressing down on every bag and feeling for the right shapes but at this point you're used to it. Even if it requires cutting different meat in different ways. "Huh. Powerful, protective, and cuddly. Sounds like the ideal pokémon." You make sure to reach out to Pix as you say it She is powerful, protective, and cuddly. The ideal pokémon. And you love her very much and won't leave her. The fox presses her head into your hand and accepts the scratches but doesn't say anything.

"How'd you learn to cook?" the girl asks. Still hungry, it seems.

"Godmother taught me. I did most of it at home. House full of boys, you know?"

"I… no." She awkwardly shifts. "I don't think that's normal? To make children do all the work?"

You scowl and bring your hand away from Pix. Time to use hand sanitizer and put the meat on. "I'm not a child. I'm fifteen." Almost old enough to train for the army if you weren't useless.

"I see." It's clear that she doesn't but she's letting it go because. Your shoulders are tense and your face is twisted. You're upset. Why? Are you scaring her? How? Doesn't matter. You take some deep breaths and relax your body. Smile. Doesn't matter if its fake.

"It's better than what I usually make. Don't think the others would settle for maize gruel." Even if ātōlli is great with a little honey and the right seasonings. And pinolli was a staple in the old days. Instant food, just add water. But not gross. Probably. Never actually made it. Simple, though, you'd just… ugh can you even get good maize here?

Plant girl coughs. "Can I have your number? For cooking advice. Later." The last part is surprisingly quick. Is she embarrassed by. Crush? Or doesn't want you to think she has a crush? It's kind of adorable either way. Not that you would ever reciprocate. She's eleven at most and you're maybe straight? Still working that one out. Not as if anyone would ever court you.

"Yeah, sure. It's…"

* * *

22/11/2019

"Break." Odd. You've barely been hiking ten minutes. And Kekoa usually isn't the one to call for it. "Put your packs down."

Very odd. Not his period, he had that a few weeks back. Pixie still found it unsettling. Also you're going to have to tell Coco why his father is laying an egg in a few weeks. Shit. Not looking forward to that. You were trying to avoid giving The Talk to a tyrannosaur. Still, you drop your pack and you can hear Genesis drop hers.

"Now, Jennifer, can you tell me my name?"

Well. Not how you would've handled it. You would've waited until Blush Mountain. Not forced the issue when you had to stay close to her for a few days more. Too late now. Here we go.

"I…" Genesis takes a deep breath. "I won't lie to Xerneas, Allana."

So much conviction in her tone. So much disrespect in her words. How'd she even remember Kekoa's old name? You forgot about five minutes later. Not even on purpose.

If the familiar sound of a fist hitting a face is anything to go by, Kekoa has a fantastic arm.


	19. Gods and Kings

**Electric 2.3: Gods and Kings**  
_Genesis_

11/27/2019

There are two types of museums: the ones filled with dangerous lies spoken into the world by Yveltal and presented as fact, and the ones that actually present facts. The true ones are wonderful! This one has a bunch of pictures of the power plant under construction and a room with a really overly complicated steam-powered device that rings a bell.

The museum says that the Blush Mountain Geothermal Plant is the largest of its kind in the country and third largest in the world. There's a giant hole in the ground and very hot water comes out and turns into steam. That spins a rod which… produces electricity somehow. You really tried to understand that part but half the words didn't make sense. Doesn't matter. This place makes most of Alola's energy. It's weird to think that when you turn a light on steam comes up in Blush Mountain and spins a wheel and then sends electricity down a wire on the ocean floor to another island where it goes into the room and makes... How did lightbulbs work? Internet time! Okay, the internet says that it makes some metal so hot that it starts glowing. Like a metal candle. Ugh. Such a better name. Metal candles and horseless carriages. Horseages? Metandles?

Annoying that you had to come alone. Sure, Cuicatl can't read signs so she might not have liked it. But it's all renewable power and save the earth and everything so Allana would think it's cool. She's not talking to you and you aren't sure you'd want her here anyways. She did hit you a few days ago. Hard. Just for your beliefs. Honestly she's lucky that it stopped hurting by the time you were able to call the cops.

It doesn't matter. Really. Yveltal makes sure that the true believers will be persecuted. If you're getting attacked you're doing something right. Not that it feels good. And then Cuicatl took his side! Even though _he _attacked _you._ Ooh, measured from the seafloor to peak Mt. Lanakila is the tallest mountain on earth. Wait if all of Ula'Ula spreads out from Lanakila does that mean that the entire thing is a mountain? Even the flat parts? Are all of the islands actually mountains? Internet time. Oh. It's already noon. Lunch time.

Then Elekid hunting.

Here's hoping that Cuicatl's in a good mood.

"Hello, Genesis." You start and glance at Cuicatl. She's awake and sitting awkwardly on her bed, half-crouching with Coco leaning on her side and Pixie awkwardly lying beneath her so that she can't move. "You're back early.

"Yeah. I, um, wanted to see if you wanted to get lunch? And then maybe we could go elekid hunting together." Allana isn't present. Where is she? You shouldn't ask that. Not when you're trying to get Cuicatl to like you for a few hours.

She twitches her leg and Pix moves to the side. Coco starts slipping and her trainer barely catches her in time. After pushing the dinosaur upright Cuicatl slips over the side of the bed and stands up. "Sure. Let me just…" Her hand slips to her belt and Coco disappears in a flash of red. A sheepish grin creeps onto Cuicatl's face. "I don't trust her table manners."

The shrill cry of a kricketune sounds off beside you. Cuicatl wipes the sweat off of her brow and brings her phone to her ear. You can hear a woman's voice come through for almost a minute. Despite the call she never asks you to stop and you keep on going closer to the grassland. Closer to elekid.

There are three pokémon out to help you find one. Coco keeps bolting ahead, thumping her tail on the ground to tell her trainer to catch up, realizing that it won't happen, running back to you, and then running ahead again. Right now she's running back for the fourth time. Pixie and Inferno (better name TBD) keep pace with you, Pixie by Cuicatl's side and Inferno by yours. The foxes have good doggo noses and Cuicatl says that tyrunt's are even better. Maybe. Based on skulls that are supposedly from millions of years ago. You're not entirely convinced.

Cuicatl lowers the phone and tucks it into her pocket. "Who was it?" you ask.

"Miss Bell."

Miss… Bell… Hmm. You're not the best with names but. Wait. You remember her. "The VStar person?"

She nods. "Yes." Coco rushes off again. "She gave me Pixie." The fox perks up at the mention of her name but keeps quiet. Right. You vaguely remember that. It got buried in the memories of your first meeting. In fairness a lot of stuff came up and you were very nervous. "What do you think about VStar?" Cuicatl asks you.

"Um." To be honest you haven't thought much about them. "It's cool that they let people like you" and Allana "go on journeys. And give pokémon to people who want one. Like you and Pixie."

"Hmm." Her face stays even and her voice is neutral. You still get the impression she disagrees. "We get two hundred dollars for an elekid. They sell for $750. VStar gets most of the money. None of the danger."

"Yeah, well, that's just how companies work. They need to make a profit so they can exist and pay us at all."

For a second a flash of… something flashes across her face. Anger? Disappointment? It's gone in less than a second. "My father was a merchant. Traded with the States. He gave money to the schools. The library. The doctors. When business was bad he'd keep giving. Sometimes wasn't enough food in the house but he helped everyone else. That was his duty. Your merchants aren't like that."

That's insane. Actually insane. People look out for themselves because no one else will. Like life vests on planes. "So he starved himself to buy a few books?"

Cuicatl gently shakes his head. "I don't think he ever starved," she says softly. "Or my brother. I took care of them. That was my duty."

Your eyes narrow automatically. "So he starved his daughter to make himself look good to everyone else?" Inferno yips beside you. He's stopped moving, planted his butt down, and is staring at you with wide eyes. Why? Is he scared? …how loud were you just then? A glance at Cuicatl shows that she's lowered her head. There's hair over her face but you're pretty sure you can see a scowl.

"Let's talk about something else," she says. Her voice is still quiet. It somehow feels violent. Threatening. Like the tiny blind girl is going to murder you with words. You're not good with people. At all. But you're pretty sure that if you keep pressing her she'll hate you for trying to help her. Like Allana. Then you'd have no one to talk to. Except maybe Exodus.

You know that if you say anything you might say something wrong. So you don't say anything.

"Well, we've made it to the tall grass," you announce. The plain stretches out in front of you with brown and yellow grasses covering a rugged plain bounded by cliffs on both sides. More grass stretches out below the cliff. Something like, oh, what's the word… terraces? The things they use for farming in South America? Sounds right. Cuicatl reaches for her pokéball and withdraws Tyrunt. "Uh, weren't you going to use her to find elekid?"

She shakes her head as she curls the leash up.. "I was. But she's never smelled one. And she'd probably scare them away." As soon as the leash is in her pack and the pack is back on her back she nods with a look of quiet determination. "Hike on."

Sometimes you can hear stuff rustle around you. Inferno or Coco lets out a growl once or twice. Never bark to signal that an elekid's close. The grass rubs against your arms and it's starting to get really irritating. Cuicatl's wearing her poncho and a long skirt and you're envious. And she gets to trail behind you after you press all the grass out of the way.

"Water break," she calls. That's rare. She almost never calls for a break. You stop in acknowledgment and glance back at her as she slowly lowers herself to the ground and sits criss-cross applesauce. She still keeps a hand tightly gripping her dinosaur's tether. Pixie just curls up beside her.

You slowly lower yourself and pull out a water bottle. Looks like you could be here a while. She doesn't drink. "You read about primarina?" she asks.

Primarina? The water starters. You've definitely heard of them. Seen a few. Can't say you've read that much about them. You shake your head and then catch yourself. "Not really."

"I thought about getting one," she says. "They like to sing. Live in groups called 'choirs.' I thought it would be fun to sing with a pokémon." She reaches out and rubs a finger over Pix's ear. "Didn't. Glad I didn't."

That would've been cute. And would've meant that Sir Bubbles could have a friend in the pools at night. But this way she has a guide fox so things worked out the way they were supposed to. But why does she want to talk about the seals?

She presses on as if to answer your question. "Now, there's something else interesting. Every choir has one girl and a lot of guys. The primarina's the girl. When she dies or leaves a brionne evolves."

"So then there's a male primarina?" That is kind of weird. They look very feminine. Wait. She said that _every_ choir has a female primarina. How does that…

"No. The brionne becomes a girl when it evolves. Organs change and everything."

"You're joking." She has to be. That's impossible. How would it even work?

Cuicatl just shrugs. "Look it up if you want." On the internet. Full of lies. "Bunch of other 'mons do it. Basculin, axlawful…" You can see a faint smile form under her hair. "You watched _Jurassic Park_, right?"

"Sort of. I was asleep where a lot of it."

She waves her hand through the air. "Your loss. Anyway. In the movie they put poliwag DNA in the tyrantrum. Let it change sex and lay eggs. Because, y'know, poliwag can do that if they want."

They can what. You reach down and let Sir Bubbles out. He looks up curiously and—oh thank goodness you can't see eggs. Still a he. Cuicatl goes on, "There was a zoo with a psychic working there. Had him ask some delibird what their sex was because they'd need surgery to tell. Found out that the delibird themselves didn't know. Just kind of guessed." That's an obvious lie. Way too ridiculous to be true. "Then there's the Aztec gods. We have four big gods. One takes whatever form he wants. Male, female, pokémon, human—doesn't matter."

"Well, they aren't even real," you insist. Lies from Yveltal. Myths to lead her people astray. Drive them to murder.

You just earn a slow head shake in response. "They don't care if you believe in them." Of course they don't. They aren't real. That's incredibly selfish, too. She gets to go to Aztec Heaven but doesn't want anyone else to go with her. "You think Xerneas created everything right?"

"Yeah…" Yveltal made evil. You don't think he actually _made _anything real though. No. Evil is real. Ugh. Doesn't matter. You know what it means.

"Then if Xerneas made primarina and axlawful and poliwag and delibird, why'd He give humans the tools to do it and then tell them not to? Can't be wrong or He wouldn't have done it for pokémon."

"That's…" Wrong. Right? "People aren't animals. Pokémon. Whatever. We aren't supposed to… do a lot of things that pokémon do. Even if we can."

"Yeah, yeah." For a second you can see her bite her lip. "Although there is some Galarian who thinks humans should drink their piss." You regret eating lunch before having this conversation. Has she really… "I'm not convinced," she says. Your worst fears dissolve. Well. Not your literal worst fears. Figurative worst fears. She sighs and uncrosses her legs. "Just think on it, okay?

"Okay." You can do that much. Will do that much. If nothing else you have to find an unbiased source to figure out if she's lying or not. Which she is. Probably. Not that it would matter if she wasn't. She's still wrong morally.

"Want to catch some elekid?"

Ugh. You really don't want to go back to walking through the grass. "Do you think our pokémon will get the scent soon?"

"Probably already have. Just don't know what it is." She grins and glances away. "My fault. Tried to find one in the city. Ran out of time." Huh. Well, not as if you were trying to find an elekid. Honestly you were basking in the joys of indoor plumbing and air conditioning as long as you could before it was time to go back on the trail. "But," she dramatically flips a finger up and raises her voice, "I do have an idea." Cuicatl brings the finger back down and unlocks her phone before holding it out to you. "Go to the videos. I have thunderstorm sounds saved."

"Why?" You still do as she asks, flicking into her stored videos. There are a surprising amount. Just from the blurry thumbnails of random objects you're pretty sure that she took them. "And what are you filming so much?"

"One: Elekid love thunderstorms. And they're babies. Maybe it'll draw one out." She pauses and purses her lips. "Or a togedemaru. Or dedenne. Or golem. Electabuzz if we're super unlucky." Cuicatl starts petting Pixie like she isn't about to throw herself and the fox into danger. "Two: I like having voices recorded. In case, um," the darkness slips back onto her face and she turns away from you, "in case something happens."

You don't know exactly what happened in her past. From what you've heard about Anahuac you don't even want to imagine. Something bad. Whatever it was. "Hey," you nudge her shoulder, "you want a hug?"

"Yeah, sure." You lean in and wrap your arms around her and she gently leans her shoulder into you. Wait, how long should you hold a hug? If it was just a greeting hug you definitely would have let go by now. But this is a 'friend feels sad and I do not trust myself to say un-sad things' hug. Clearly longer. Is this good? She isn't leaning out. Okay. So. Still doing this. She's using the travel shampoo you recommended. Well, the same one you use. Saving space and all. You like it. Of course you do. It's yours. Uhhhhhhhh. She leans away and places her arms behind her. Smiling. Faintly but it still counts. Good job! "Thank you."

"You're welcome." You stop yourself there before you can ruin it. In the distance a bird starts chirping. You have no idea what kind it is.

Cuicatl turns to her ice pupper. "Tell me if anything gets close? Flick my ankle if it's an elekid, hiss for other stuff." He huffs in response and slowly gets up on all fours to stare intently into the grass. Then his trainer turns to you and tilts her head. "Play whenever."

"I, uh, this is safe, right?"

She shrugs. That really helps your nerves. "We've got Inferno for geodude, Count Cloudy and Sir Bubbles for togedemaru, Pix for dedenne." Ah. So she's assigning everything but the tiny mouse to you. In fairness both have a type advantage against her. And Pixie has all kinds of tricks for the capture. Okay, fine. it's fair enough. And she doesn't _sound _concerned. But—

"Why Sir Bubbles? He's a water type." However brave and strong he is he won't like dodging lightning.

"'cause Count Cloudy will be using ember in dry grass. I want the whole thing watered down."

That makes a lot of sense. The Count's embers are still tiny in comparison to Sir Bubbles' bubbles so it should work out. You steel yourself and let the thunder roll.

The thunder keeps rolling. At some point the sun came out from behind the clouds and you really want to curl up and take a nice nap in the sun on an impromptu grass bad. Cuicatl's already half there, sprawled out with her head on her backpack and her eyes closed. Not that the eye thing actually matters to her. Why does she ever open them, anyway? It's weird.

Something _big_ moves the grass in front of you. Heavy, too, from the footsteps. Pixie starts a low hiss and Cuicatl bolts upright. "Graveler or golem. Pixie, use baby doll eyes when it gets closer. Genesis, pelt it with razor leaf, bubble, and water gun once it's distracted. Be prepared to throw a ball and run."

"Right." You turn around to see Inferno already moving into position. You relay orders to Count Cloudy and Sir Bubbles—Sir Bubbles start to run away. You withdraw him for now. Don't want to deal with that and a battle at the same time. The graveler stops moving just as you can get a good look at it. Mostly gray. Little black and yellow stones jut out from the surface here and there. You can't see the face but you get the impression that it's really ugly.

"Any time," Cuicatl whispers. Right. Dramatic shout or quiet whisper order.

It comes out as a shout.

Inferno flicks her head leaf and begins her assault. Water streams out from the sky, admittedly at a rate closer to a trickle than a torrent. How is this supposed to hurt a solid rock that comes up to your hips? It shouldn't. It seems to. The graveler makes a cry of pain that sounds like, that is, rocks grinding against each other before awkwardly turning around and lumbering away.

Slowly.

Doesn't look like its coming back.

Victory!

When you wake up there's another battle going. Cuicatl's crouched down behind Pixie while the fox wrestles with a small yellow, with an elekid! Inferno and Count Cloudy are currently watching the brawl. Just as you start to move the elekid jerks and tosses Pixie out of the way. The pupper lands on her feet and starts prepping ice… no. Her eyes are… the elekid halts and uneasily glances around. Confuse ray.

A ball rolls into your knee. "Can you toss it for me?"

She would have troubles with that. Not that you have too much experience with this. You did it underhanded last time so let's try that. Just a gentle toss. The elekid starts turning around and sparks fly around its hand as it sees the pokéball. Then they fade. It all fades to red. The ball shakes. Pixie raises her tails up and prepares an ice shard, probably for real this time. Another shake. You're holding your breath. Know you're holding your breath but can't bring yourself to exhale. Another ball rolls into your foot as Cuicatl prepares for. _Click. _Capture.

You let out the breath you knew you were holding. The breath and the small shift in posture that comes with it calms you. Not to sleep. All exhaustion was driven out in the, what, forty seconds since you woke up?

"You're a _really_ deep sleeper," Cuicatl says, irritation and amusement mixed in her voice. "We'd been going for _ages_ before you noticed."

"Well, I did wake up when I was needed."

She rolls her eyes. You think she rolls her eyes? The frosted pattern moves. "That was my third ball."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Thought your snoring might scare off the 'mons." Her shoulders roll and she leans back on her hands. "Worked out fine thanks to Pix." The ice fox puffs up her fur and sits down, tails curled around her. Cuicatl's smile sinks a little. "If you're tired we don't have to stay out. Always tomorrow."

Tomorrow… Tuesday. Right. "Sorry, it's a holiday."

"Well, it's about to rain…"

Is it? There are a lot more clouds. And the sound of thunder. From beside you. Wait. You reach down and turn the phone off. The battery's almost dead. Looks like you're going back one way or another.

"Okay. Day after tomorrow? We'll still be here right?"

"Yeah. Heading out on the… twenty-ninth? Sorry. Hard to remember three calendars."

"Three… The American one... The Aztec one…"

"We have two calendars. One for gods. One for farming and business and stuff."

"Yeah, but, couldn't you just… adopt the one everyone else uses?"

She sits up and starts getting her things together. "Ours are better. Months have the same number of days." That's actually pretty reasonable. You can never remember what days have 30 and which have 31. "What's the holiday tomorrow?"

"Thanksgiving." You mirror her and get your pack around. Thankfully there's not much. "We get together with family and think about what we're thankful for. Then there's a parade in Castelia."

Cuicatl stands up and makes a broad sweeping motion around your impromptu clearing. "Can you get the ball?" You pick it up and slip it into her hand as you stand. "And that's the genocide one, right?"

"No. It's more about being thankful for the natives helping us out."

She gestures towards the rough direction of the Pokémon Center and you set out. Cuicatl follows behind. "Right, then you killed all you could and stole half their land."

"I think you've read a lot of propaganda." Well, not read. Heard? You did manage to keep your voice very neutral. Good job. She's wrong but you don't have to be mean. If you are you might be actually alone on Thanksgiving. And then you'd probably burn down some grass while fighting a togedemaru.

"Just because it's propaganda doesn't mean it's wrong." You glance back at her. What was that supposed to mean? Of _course_ it's all lies. That's what propaganda means. Doesn't matter if it's Anahuac or Yveltal herself saying it, all of it's lies. Well. Okay. The natives did give away a lot of land. And some of it was stolen. But that's not your fault. And you like being thankful for stuff. Can't you just do that without making everything political?

11/28/2019

What do you have to be thankful for last year?

In hindsight, way less. Should've been thankful for a lot more in 2018. Your family, Lyra, good food, a place to stay every night. Sure you were thankful for all of that but… not as much as you should've been. You'll be better at that in 2020. But now you have pokémon to be thankful for! Sir Bubbles, Count Cloudy and Inferno. One of these things is not like the others, one of these things just doesn't belong.

The Green Knight! Yes! You'll tell her later. She will be ecstatic.

Sir Bubbles, Count Cloudy, and The Green Knight. Then Cuicatl. She is away from her terrible father and has enough food now. For some reason she still seems sad. Sometimes. Other times she seems really energetic. She's confusing but you're thankful for her. Then… well, Allana is a ministry opportunity. The silver lining in your bad situation. And your family's still alive so you should be thankful for that!

Lyra… no. Not this year. She is on a journey of her own. Maybe you'll cross paths and she'll apologize for what she did.

Apologies. Family. You glance at the window and watch the water run down the glass. Another rainstorm. Even if it wasn't a holiday you couldn't go elekid hunting. You turn back to the room. Well, not a room. The small area between sets of doors. Some volleyball courts and outdoor pools past one set, a hallway connecting the pools and lobby down the other. Allana's in your room and you don't want to do this with other people around.

You take a deep breath and call your only relative who might listen.

First ring. You can do this. Second ring. You _need _to do this. It's the point of the holiday. Third ring. What if they aren't taking calls today? Someone picks up. "Pine Pass Programs. What can I do for you today?"

Another deep breath. "Hi, I was calling to see if Exodus Gage can talk. I'm her sister, Genesis."

"Alright, please hold." Gentle piano and… harp(?) music starts to play. You lean back on the wall and exhale. Exodus. Exodus, Exodus, Exodus. You visited on her birthday five months ago. Haven't called her since. It's fine. She's better now. Much better. You still tense up. Even though she's halfway across the Pacific and younger than you.

"Hey, Gen." Her voice comes through. Well, close enough to her voice. You don't have it memorized. But you still sort of recognize it. Puberty. Changing. Or maybe you just forgot. Bleh. "What's up?"

You're alone in a cramped corner of a Pokémon Center because your mom kicked you out for something that isn't your fault. "Nothing much. How are you?"

"Eh. Have the day off from classes. Decent lunch a while ago." A while ago?

"What time is it on the mainland?"

"Two-thirty." Right. Weren't sure exactly how many hours ahead they were. "So, this a friendly family call or do you want something from me?"

What help could she even give. You shake your head. Focus. Not the issue. "I just wanted to wish you a happy Thanksgiving."

"Aww, thanks." You can sort of make out a quiet chuckle on the other end. "'course, probably helps that you got kicked out. What's the deal with that, by the way? No one's telling me."

Do you tell her the truth? Would it matter? There's nothing she could even do about it, right? Right? Nothing comes to mind. You try again. Darn it, you're doing this. "Lyra kissed me. I didn't ask. I didn't like it. Mom still got mad. Didn't want Levi to get corrupted."

"Hmm. That all there is?" She sounds smug. Definitely not supportive. And what's she getting at.

"Yes. That's it. I don't really get it either. Okay, like, I did for a few days but it's been over two months now." You aren't crying. Your voice is breaking for other reasons. You will not cry in front of Exodus. You will not. "Maybe they just think I want to journey or something?" You don't. It's sometimes not bad. You'd rather be home.

"Oh, sweetie." Somehow she sounds even smugger. Yeah. This sounds like Exodus again. "You still don't get it, do you? It's almost sad." She definitely does not sound sad.

You can hang up at any time.

"Get what?"

"Well, for one… no. That's not mine to tell you. But I don't think I've told you why…"

"No. You haven't." The voice cracks stop. You think you sound really cold. Good. She deserves it.

"Yeah, well, if Mom and Dad ever loved us they stopped when Levi was born. They had their heir. We're just decorations now. And if we don't act the part they'll throw us in the trash."

Delusional. Absolutely delusional. "Exodus, they sent you to therapy for trying to choke their son. You can't justify that."

"Heh, you didn't say I was wrong…"

"And you're wrong." Your thumb drifts to the red button that will end the call. It stops just over it. "They still love you. Why else would Mom go all the way to the mainland to visit you?"

"Love, first of all this ain't therapy. At best it's discount juvie. Second, it's been years, okay? I've changed." She sighs into the phone. "I was eight. I made a mistake. I'm sorry. Really. If they loved me they'd let me out. Give me a chance to make things better." You can practically see her shaking her head through the phone, crocodile tears in her eyes. "I was like you once. Thought they were just scaring me straight. They weren't. I wasn't the decoration they wanted and they tossed me out of sight."

"They visit." Often. At least once a month. More than you're getting. Plus they call. "Trust me, they do love you. They're just worried about…" Levi, mostly. Pets too. She probably got a glameow and an ariados. Probably. You only really put it together after she was sent off. She's clever. Knows how to hide things. If the housekeeper hadn't overheard the struggle…

She butts in before you can finish the thought. "That doesn't mean anything. They only come because they think they're good parents and that's what good parents should do. When I talk they don't listen. Ever. Then they path themselves on the back and leave." You don't know how to answer that. So you don't. "Just be glad they didn't send you to conversion therapy, okay? A few kids here have been to that. Fucked them up something good."

"Language." There's somebody listening to her conversation, right? And she's only thirteen. She has no business talking like that.

You fidget and your thumb presses the last half centimeter down onto the end call button. You could call back. You don't want to.

Instead you slowly slouch down and sit on the radiator. So many lies. Primarina are transvestites. Blood sacrifices keep the sun moving. Your parents don't love you. Exodus was ever justified.

You put the phone down next to you and lower your head into your hands. You don't scream. A convenient crack of lightning does it for you. As a kid you heard about temptation. You thought you'd be strong enough to resist. That you would earn your afterlife.

You still will.

It'll just be harder than you'd anticipated.


	20. Spiderwebs and Lost Souls

**Electric 2.4: Spiderwebs and Lost Souls  
**_Kekoa_

* * *

12/1/2019

Before you take out lunch you kick your boots off and stretch. Downhill was supposed to be easy. Instead it was a thousand controlled, halting steps to keep you from tumbling down. Did bring you to a damn nice lake, though. Perfectly clear water with a few wishiwashi darting below the surface. Mountains reflected in the water. The shit they put on postcards. There's another group sitting down for lunch about a third of the way around the lake but otherwise you're alone.

Well, alone with Cuicatl Ichtaca, some Pokémon, and a transphobic piece of shit. Pixie and Coco have already curled up on their trainer as she lies down. Count Cloudy the Pretentious is hovering over the pond, the leafeon is curled up in a sunbeam, and Sir Fucking Bubbles is staring into the water and deciding if he's man enough to swim in it.

You can see Hekeli flit between branches from time to time. Makani thankfully ignored you when you sent him out and is busy rooting around in the dirt. Cuicatl Ichtaca told you that your 'mons would need a reason to stay. Thankfully he found one on his own. Something changed on Blush Mountain. Not evolution. For the best. Don't want to deal with Makani the vikavolt quite yet. Might think it's funny to spit ten thousand volts in your face rather than string. But he seems to get why he should stay. The bug grew up on Akala. Never had a chance of evolving on his own. With you? He can become a terrifying murder bug. Will become a terrifying murder bug.

And the people (and colonizer) are sprawled out in the shade, ignoring the hike the afternoon will bring. Food. You were supposed to pull out food. Canned meat and hummus, raisins that are somehow more dehydrated than usual, and crackers. Bland but cheap and nutritious. Maybe Cuicatl Ichtaca's thought of something better but she's never complained. You toss some at the haole bitch and gently hand your friend her portion. Then silence. Near-silence. Eating sounds and spitting followed by happy dinosaur noises. Not quite as close to pikipek noises as you'd expect from her feathers and build. Speaking of! You can hear Hekeli's songs and they're getting really complex. Plus her beak is growing out. If she's not a trumbeak yet she will be soon. Damn shame she won't be useful in the next trial. Maybe she can come in with a rock smash if the crabrawler you'll catch later can't do the job.

You hear barking noises and the sound of snapping twigs behind you. You glance back and—pancham. Two of them bumbling towards you, tripping over tree roots and each other. That means there's a momma pangora nearby. "Cuicatl," you say as neutrally as possible, "there are pancham here. Bears. Fighting-types. Momma's a dark-type."

The bitch beside you makes a dumb "aww" sound and, after a pause, "We aren't allowed to feed them, right?"

No. Not in theory. But if a pangoro's staring you down you'll gladly bribe her. Unless she decides she likes your food and wants to take the rest, plus three weak animals and some pokémon. Throw pokéballs, run, and pray? Always an option. Maybe you could trip the asshole and make a break while the pangoro's eating. No. A bit too harsh. Just a little bit, though.

Cuicatl Ichtaca sits up and gently smiles without showing any teeth. "Hello. Can I help you with anything?" The pancham stand up on their hind legs and start adorably growling something out. Cuicatl Ichtaca just nods and strokes Pixie's tails with one hand while physically restraining her tyrunt with the other. Girl's smart enough to know she doesn't want a fight. At best she loses and her pokémon get hurt. At worst she wins and gets killed by a confused pangoro. "We're just passing through on our way north." It turns out pancham can make a sound best described as an excited squeak. "I'm sorry, but you can't have any. It would make you sick."

That earns an tiny roar. In the forest something a lot bigger than a twig snaps. For a second Cuicatl's composure breaks. Then she starts to open her eyes wide and slowly shake her head. "Oh, no. We're very scared. Terrified. But we're—poison-types. We eat bad things. Bird shit. It would make you sick." The sound of snapping branches keeps coming closer. "Promise."

More squeaks and growls while Cuicatl slowly nods her head. "Not all humans can. Just me. Can't talk to your—" Heavy breathing at the forest's edge. A giant bear with a cape of black fur stares down at you. Fuck. Cuicatl recovers much faster than you do. Thank the gods. Her gods. Whichever get you through this. "Well, that's rude of her. You scared me plenty on your own." To your friend's immense credit, it turns out pancham can feel embarrassed by their parents. One of the cubs turns around with a pout and start garbling out something to her mom. The pangoro's stem twitches in her mouth for a second before her face settles into a smile.

The mother barks at her children, shoots a half-hearted glare at Cuicatl Ichtaca, and heads back the way she came. The pancham clumsily run after her.

No one, pokémon or human, dares to move for several long minutes. In the end Hekeli moves first by dropping down to a nearby branch and making a nervous trill. Cuicatl Ichtaca collapses back down, head hitting her pack, and mumbles some (untranslated) words in Nahuatl that are obviously swears.

"First time meeting a bear without a hydreigon at my back."

Wait.

What?

"You had a hydreigon?"

She awkwardly shrugs as best she can while lying down with her vulpix on top of her. The tyrunt is still standing where she was, glaring at the forest's edge. "Mom did. Did I not tell…" She snaps. "That's right. I was going to threaten to sic her on you in Paniola. You cut me off." You can feel a little blood come back into your cheeks for the first time since the pangoro drained it out. Just how far did you press her back then? The whole conversation's a blur. Honestly you only remember her outing you. Sure, you knew that she was mad at you but you'd figured it was just the name thing. Maybe you should apologize. But its damn hard to apologize if you don't even know what you did wrong. And _she_ wasn't exactly blameless in that whole fuckup.

Stop. You're going to say something you'll regret. Regret after forgetting what you said, anyway. Also what kind of person just threatens to have their pet dragon eat someone? Cuicatl Ichtaca. Yeah. That's who. At least her new dragon thinks you're her father. Probably won't eat you.

Probably.

"Were you, um, talking to the bears?"

Right. It's here. And hasn't been told, apparently. Good call on Cuicatl Ichtaca's part.

"Yes, I was."

It awkwardly shifts as its castform drifts closer. "How?"

"I can talk to pokémon," Cuicatl Ichtaca says like that's just a perfectly normal thing. Is she going to do the accent trick? Still haven't quite moved past that. After that you've been able to hear a slight accent in your voice but that might just be because that's how you think she _should _sound.

"How long?"

"Hmm?"

"How long have you been able to do that?" There's a hint of betrayal in its voice. Couldn't have happened to a nicer person.

"Since I was seven. At least. Maybe earlier."

Coco shakes herself off and plods over to you. How much of this is she following? If it's just her trainer's part then does she even understand what the humans are talking about? "Why didn't you tell us?" the bitch asks.

"She told me _weeks_ ago." It's rude to Cuicatl Ichtaca. You'll apologize later. But the look on Jenny's face makes it absolutely worth it. Even if your friend's half-snarl ruins the view.

"I don't tell people if I can help it. Had to tell him to end a dumb fight."

It wasn't a dumb fight. She outed you in front of a colossal jackass and you said _something_ that made her think about murder. And if she really wanted to make peace she probably could've found another way. Girl's smart sometimes.

"Why not tell people?" Its mouth hangs open as she struggles to find words that aren't its usual level of stupid. "I think it's cool. And it would help you make friends."

"N," you answer for her. "That's why."

It's something you've thought about in the last few weeks. Maybe Uffe was right and she's just another refugee from a collapsing fascist shithole. But she said her mom was from Unova. Someone _important_ from Unova. And her hair has to be natural green. You would've noticed her roots by now. Of course, N was Asian. Cuicatl isn't. Right? How do you do the loud thought thing? Hey, Cuicatl, was your mom Asian?

{Second person to ask me that in a month.} You flinch more than you'd like to admit. {Can this wait?} Yeah. It can. {Cool.}

"The terrorist?" Cuicatl asks, aloud. "Sorry, that was a long time ago. Didn't follow it."

"Yeah, the terrorist." Or freedom fighter. Same difference. 'course, he went at it wrong. Tried to free the pokémon. Didn't realize that shitty humans would immediately take them back. You have to take care of the shitty humans first. "They say he could talk to pokémon. Told him that fighting was hell, training is slavery, all that. So he tried to take over Unova."

"As one does," Cuicatl says. Her voice is flat but it sounds like a joke. You snort as a sign of support.

"As one does. He failed. Flew away on a fuckoff thunder dragon. Sometimes people spot him but he hasn't done anything big in years."

The bitch slowly gets to its feet and starts pacing. "But he was wrong. Pokémon benefit from the system. So Hilda used her team's bonds of friendship to defeat him."

"Hmm." You turn to Cuicatl and do your best to project your voice in her direction. "Is that right?"

She shrugs. "Sometimes. Coco's staying close to her parents. Ce wanted food and shelter." A grimace. Her pace picks up. "Pix likes being appreciated. Pokémon don't always like it. The social ones like home. Some 'mons just don't want to get hurt. Guess neither were right. Not all the way."

Well, that's some centrist bullshit. You were expecting better from her. Wait. "So if you weren't staying mum over N, why don't you tell people?"

Cuicatl Ichtaca pulls her pack to her and puts her arms through the straps. She's clearly trying to end the conversation by just getting on the trail. For its part the bitch has stopped pacing and is just staring at your friend. "Governments. Anahuac would've made me a spy, U.S. might deport me and tell Anahuac why."

"I'm not going to tell anyone," the transphobe lies.

"Even if you had a filter between your mouth and the place your brain should be, she wouldn't owe you shit."

It looks like you punched it again. Or killed a puppy in front of it. Good. You pull on your own pack and get up before withdrawing Makani. Cuicatl Ichtaca sighs rather loudly. "Can we please be civil? Just for a little bit?"

You snort. For real this time. "Oh, please. Jenny won't even say my name and you want _me_ to be civil?"

Another sigh as Cuicatl Icthaca slowly gets to her feet and flicks her cane out. "He has a point, Genesis. If you want to bring him around and save his soul," you can't tell if you're imagining Cuicatl's cringe or not, "then he has to be willing to talk to you. If you insist on being rude then he'll never listen and never convert." {Not that I care about that,} she adds to you alone. Hey, missionaries fucked over Anahuac, right? {They tried. We kicked them out _centuries_ ago.} Good call. {Thanks.} "Let's just head out," she mutters, aloud.

* * *

Cuicatl Ichtaca slowly pivots to 'look' around the campsite. "Smells like eucalyptus," she says. And it does. Pretty strongly, in fact. There's a big clump of the trees at the edge the clearing. "We could make bug repellant from that and water. Cheap."

"I'm not lugging more water around than I have to."

"No," she looks at you with… disappointment? "We just get the leaves now. Grind out the oil and put that in a bag. Mix with water when you need it."

That does make sense. Mostly. But. "You know we're up $600, right? We can buy real bug spray. Even with Alola prices."

Cuicatl drops her pack and sits down. Her usual routine after arriving at campsites since she can't set up the tent or hang bags or anything so she's kind of useless until it's time to do a few minutes of cooking. "Yes. But. We should also buy another pack or two. More balls and potions. Another tent. Human and pokémon food. Maybe a real pokédex. And I want to make money eventually."

You turn back to the tent. The poles and fabric that will soon be a tent. Your ugly assistant awkwardly hovers nearby but does move in once you start setting it up. At least its intelligent enough to do some menial labor. "How much money do you really need? Payouts are supposed to increase later on." Supposed to. Not that you trust VStar one bit. Yours is a marriage of convenience. You need power to save Alola from its false queen, they want you to help them plunder Alola for profit. But nature rebuilds. All will be well when the kingdom is free.

"Seven hundred and eighty-one thousand dollars."

The pole you were holding clatters to the ground and you stare at her dumbfounded. You can sort of see the other one doing the same. "Holy shit." Cuicatl's looking down at the ground, absently stroking Pixie's back. "You're serious?"

"Yes."

"In deep with the cartels?" Has to be it. You're pretty sure Anahuac has free healthcare so it can't be a 'my brother is dying of cancer' thing.

That earns a lazy headshake in response. "Nah. They're more to the north and east."

"Then what the hell do you need it for?"

"I… I'd r-rather not say." Is the stutter real? Just something she wanted to communicate? Intentionally or not? Everything she says about her power raises more questions than answers and she rarely gives answers when you ask. Her face tells you what you want to know. Push now and she'll burst into tears, threaten to murder you, or both. You reach down and pick the pole up. The bitch does likewise and you set up camp in silence.

* * *

"Can you help me gather the leaves?" Cuicatl Ichtaca finally asks, composed, after the food bag is hung up.

"Look…" A few dollars won't make a dent in the debt. She can't even make the money here anyway. At best she walks away with maybe a tenth of it. How do you phrase that without being an asshole here? And since when did you start asking yourself that question? Baby doll eyes. The trick Pixie pulled on you in your first battle with her. She made herself small, vulnerable. Stirred up every damn bit of estrogen in your system. Her trainer's doing that now. Ugh. Fuck her.

"I know." She sounds tired. Defeated. Manipulative. "I know. But I'm bored and I want something to do. Can I at least have the leaves?"

* * *

She's still harvesting eucalyptus. It's a slow process filled with trial, error, and lots of awkwardly moving her hands around in the general direction of the tree. Her pokémon are ignoring her entirely and staring up another one. There's a komala sleeping probably ten feet up. The bitch hasn't noticed it yet. Probably. Its being wonderfully quiet, just staring down at the grass between its crossed legs.

You're bored. You could have hekeli fight the komala. Seems cruel, though. Beating up something for just sleeping nearby. Nah. You'll save her energy for dumbass haole kids in Malie. Still bored. You could cook but that's literally the only thing Cuicatl Ichtaca does for anyone. Plus some translations. Maybe more of those now that it's in on the secret. Eh. Fuck it. You'll help her. She turns her head a little bit when you approach. "Kekoa, right?"

"Yeah." You start picking leaves. She has a quart bag in one hand that she's putting them in. Once you've got your first fistful you stick those in with hers.

"Thank you."

You grunt out something that was maybe supposed to be "no problem" in your head. Wait. Can she understand that? … Cuicatl Ichtaca, can you understand that? "Understand what," she mutters.

"That grunt?"

She rolls her eyes. "You have to at least try, Kekoa." The bag is gently pressed into your hands and she starts walking back to the campsite. "Going to make dinner now."

Did you say something wrong? Not say something you should have? Maybe she was just hungry. You turn back to the tree. You can hear footsteps behind you as Cuicatl Ichtaca's pokémon go to beg for food, the komala forgotten. Should you have told her about it? She does like cuddling her pokémon and komala would be into that. Then again, komala isn't exactly a killing machine. Might undercut her rep. Her pokémon would have told her about it, right? Seemed to be important to them. More as prey than a potential snuggle buddy. What will happen if or when she catches a prey pokémon? Or when Coco gets big enough to just snap up Pixie in a single gulp? Eh. You can trust her. She's probably already drilled into the little dino's heads that foxes are friends, not food.

Komala, on the other hand… definitely food.

After a few minutes of blissful silence there are human footsteps behind you. Definitely the bitch. Cuicatl Ichtaca would either have the swish of her cane or the patter of pokémon footsteps or both with her. You stand still and stare straight ahead. Maybe it can take a hint. Or at least not see motion. Wait can Coco actually see non-moving stuff? She has to, right? Something to pay more attention to in the future.

"I, um… I wanted…" A deep sigh. You give it a glance over your shoulder. It's hunched over, staring at its shoes with its hands awkwardly fidgeting against each other at its waist. Like it's going to confess a middle school crush or some shit. "I wanted to ask if we could meet halfway. Like, you don't call me by my name so, I dunno, maybe you could make up a nickname or something that isn't All— that isn't your old name."

"No." You very deliberately go back to picking the leaves. It steps into your peripheral vision but you ignore it.

"I'm just asking to be able to do what you've been doing to me for months!" Gods, she's pouting. Like she's the victim here. "Just, please…" What a great argument.

Ugh. She won't go away if you don't give her anything. And right now you'd rather have her go away than stay 1000% true to your principles. Fine, here goes. "You've got your name in Galar. Here? My kingdom. I call you what I want."

"_Your_ kingdom? Since when are you royalty?" You see her hesitate. "Unless, um, you are…"

You're not but you've met the princess. Dresses in rags. Lives in the same orphanage you wound up in. Sure, she could probably afford better clothes but it's all the principle of it. Tattered robes on the princess of a tattered kingdom. The girl who spends more time with the living. Ghosts. The mournful and angry souls of an occupied nation. What was. What lingers. What stands ready for revenge.

You opt to let the leaf bag fall from your hands and give her a real glare. You flick a hand back over your shoulder. "See that? The mountain in the distance? I'm gonna kick out that haole bitch you put on a fucking throne on Mauna Fucking Lanakila. Then I'm tearing the whole place down. Give the palace in Hau'oli to the real queen. Take back my home from assholes like you."

That just earns a few slow blinks before it brushes a stray blond hair off its face. "No you can't. That would take a vote or something. Not just a battle with an athlete."

"Hmph. So we can't take back the kingdom with a battle but we could lose it with one? That right?"

It pointedly looks away from you. "It wasn't a democracy. That was how things worked then."

* * *

You know that well. In 1888 Elisha Gage strolled into the Palace and challenged the Queen for her throne. He didn't do it right. He was supposed to first be accepted into the island challenge and then complete it. That would've required him being an actual citizen of the kingdom and not some haole leech. The Queen accepted. You don't know why. And so he faced the four kahunas and the Queen all in a row to take the throne.

He did that all wrong, too. Bought himself five teams. Brought a different one in to each match, all tailor-made for the win. That wasn't supposed to happen. No one had ever used more than six pokémon for the royal challenge before. But the rulebook doesn't say anything about using thirty pokémon! You can imagine his smug face. Like he's a ref allowing a fucking growlithe to play basketball with an entire country on the line. It also ignored the point. There were no rules in the first place. Just traditions. The people knew what they were supposed to do and they did it. You had a shred of decency.

He won. Barely. Later came out that he'd paid three-point-eight mil in that days' dollars for his final team. The Queen could've told him to go to hell. She didn't. You don't know why. So he sat on the throne and called in the marines and told them that Alola was part of the U.S. now. All so that some spiderweb dealer could pay less taxes.

Hope he's happy in hell.

* * *

You don't say any of that. You just stare right into its icy eyes and cross your arms. Hope she'll be happy in hell with Old Man Gage.

It rolls its shoulders and tries to almost look you in the eyes again. "I… fine. Sure. Not what I wanted to talk about." You snort. Of course it thinks its entitled to pick everything it talks about. "I just wanted to say that I was mean to you and I'm sorry… Kekoa."

"Dinner's ready!" You blink and turn towards Cuicatl Ichtaca. There's a half-empty bowl in her lap and she raises another spoonful of food to her lips as you watch. Dinner has clearly been ready for a while. She just wanted to sit back and watch the show. Listen to the show. Did she tell it to do that? Doesn't really matter. The bitch has turned around and is walking over to the food with far too little weight on its shoulders.

Her shoulders. Maybe. Ugh, fine. You'll at least need to pick another name for her. Jennifer is too close to her real one. Janette? Sounds good.

* * *

12/2/2019

It isn't raining when you step outside. In fact the sky is almost suspiciously clear for this time of the year. Full moon overhead and the clearing is remarkably bright for 1:18 A.M. Wings stir at the forest's edge and Hekeli glides over to perch on your shoulder. She'd hear a pangoro coming and a rattata isn't enough to take her out anymore. Safe to leave her out at night.

As you walk away from the tent to pee movement catches your eye. A dark, slender shape rises up near the treeline. It's almost as tall as you. No, taller. You finally catch the shape of its—her head and the red markings on her chest. Salazzle. You're being summoned. The salamander drops down on all fours and raises her tail into the air as a signal before slipping into the forest.

It's hard to follow the fire-type. The trees block out much of the moonlight and there are way more shrubs in your way than there were on Route 12. If Cuicatl Ichtaca hasn't heard the noise herself her pokémon definitely have. You really hope she doesn't follow. She'd understand, of course, but she might get sucked in deeper than you'd like right now.

The forest abruptly breaks into a clearing, another campsite from the looks of it, and you see the woman sitting on a log in the middle. Her hair's shorter and died black but the tank top, tattoos, and baggy pants let you know that you're dealing with Big Sis. As if the salazzle wasn't enough of a giveaway. She flicks her hand towards the ground and you sit. Probably too far away. Might have to raise your voice a little bit. Not that you were sounding stealthy before.

"I got your message," she says. Like it's just a normal thing that Big Sis reads reports from someone who isn't even a grunt. Should you respond? She's supposed to be pretty casual. She's also the only one doing anything about the False Queen. A hero here in the flesh. One on one. What would you even say? "The Nahua girl's interesting." You know that you needed to tell her about Cuicatl. For a moment you still regret bringing Big Sis's attention to her. "But not what I want to talk about."

That's… not what you were expecting. What else did you even say? Damnit you were tired and a little angry when you emailed Manollo. You've forgotten half of it. Running problem today. "I almost have two Z-Crystals." That can't be what she wanted to hear, it sounds almost _pathetic _when you say it aloud.

She blinks twice and slouches a bit. "So you really don't know…?" Don't. Know. What? Plumeria shakes her head and smiles. "Dummy. Genesis is a Gage."

Genesis is. Gage. Elisha. The Old Man. The Spiderweb Prince. The Kingdom Thief. She's _his_ spawn.

Holy. Fucking. Shit.

You knew she had money before but _billionaire heiress? _To a family that's somehow _worse _than most billionaires? Fuck. Honestly, her being a transphobic piece of shit is now waaaaaay down on the list of things to hate about her. It. Hate about it. Definitely not 'her' anymore.

Plumeria dismissively waves her hand through the air and brings you a little bit closer to reality. "You aren't actually in Skull so I won't give you orders, but. A suggestion: do whatever you can to keep her on the trail and away from her family."

"Why?" Everything still feels unreal. The words slip from your mouth before you realize how stupid they are. Of course Big Sis has a reason. She always does.

Her expression doesn't waver. If she thinks you're a dummy—she did call you a dummy didn't she—then she's not pressing it now. "I don't need her now. There's some shit that's about to go down and we're laying low. Later?" The smile returns. Less friendly this time. "Yeah, I can find a use for her. Much easier to get her if she isn't being guarded by daddy."

A kidnapping. You'd have to gain its trust. Regain its trust. Pretend to be nice. Call it Genesis. Act like its human. A friend, even. It'll all suck so much. But in the end everything will have been worth it when you see the look on her face.

You nod slowly. "I can do that."

The Skull Boss slowly gets to her feet and looks—up—to meet you in the eye. Shorter than you'd thought. Never been this close to her before. At the Mauna she always sat above everyone else. Her height's probably why. The shadows around her shoes move and a gengar rises up behind her. Hekeli cries out in shock and flutters into place in front of you. You call her back and she glides to a branch behind you.

"You're using one of VStar's phones, right?"

"Yes."

She slips her hand into her pocket and holds a flip phone out to you. Should you? Yes. You step closer to Plumeria, defender of Alola, and take it. Your hand almost touches hers. Stupid.

The boss turns around and starts walking towards the edge of the clearing. It's almost. Heh. You've gotten used to Cuicatl's dumb military-types pivots in place. Kind of weird seeing normal humans turn around. "My number's saved in there. Tell me if things go to hell."

"Wait, I." She turns around and glances at you. Shit. What were you saying? "Does this mean I'm in Skull? For real?"

Plumeria turns back around as her gengar's shadows rise up to engulf her. "Whatever you want, kid." When the unnatural blackness fades to normal night Big Sis is gone.

You're left alone with a pikipek—no, trumbeak, a phone, and a mission.


	21. Life Goes On

CN: Child Abuse

**Electric 2.5: Life Goes On  
**_Cuicatl Ichtaca_

[-15:03:11]

The air feels like rain again. You'd hoped that being in the States would bring a real winter and summer and not just wet and dry seasons. Of course you weren't so lucky.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but pokémon aren't allowed in the library."

You stop and turn towards the voice. An employee? You gesture towards your cataracts. "I need her to get around."

The wind picks up. For the time being it doesn't carry water with it. The woman is silent far longer than she needs to be. "Do you have her service pokémon documents on you?" She sounds unimpressed. Almost aggressive. Coco would've growled at her already. Pix is probably considering it.

You don't have the papers. They don't exist. "She's not registered." You plow through to keep Pix from taking it personally. "But she's smart. Won't cause trouble." Last bit _might_ be a lie. She's been behaving well recently. Well enough to gamble on.

"I'm sorry but we only allow registered service pokémon. An assistant can help you around if you need it."

Right. Because being jerked around by a stranger with no training is better than letting your (somewhat) trusted helper do it. Your heart rate's up and your shoulders are tensed. Pix flicks a tail to your ankle. Probably asking if she should fight. You make an effort to relax your shoulders and take a deep breath. You don't win this fight. This woman has the power and she's made up her mind. Experience tells you that all the facts and logic in the world won't change that. "Fine," you concede with a huff. "You good going in your ball, Pix?"

"Yes."

You withdraw her and clip the ball to the second spot in your belt. Before you take your cane out you slide your hands back down to your skirt's pockets (making your own clothing has its advantages). "Well, now what?"

She hesitates. Of course she didn't have an actual procedure. Just saw a rule she could enforce on some kid and decided to be cruel. You could take out your cane and save her but a little bit of your own cruelty bubbles up and you let her solve the problem she made. "One second," she finally says. "Let me get someone to help you."

It takes a lot longer than a second. By the time it starts to drizzle you're starting to doubt that she's coming back at all. When it starts to pour you're certain that she isn't. With a sigh you pull out your cane and walk into the building itself. You consider letting Pix out and walking in anyway. If the same woman is still there you doubt she'd complain again.

She doesn't speak up when you step inside. You'd half expected that she'd just darted through the door and spent a half hour staring at you through the glass. "Excuse me," another woman calls out. "Can I help you?"

There's no way to be sure she's talking to you. She probably is. You nod and turn in the voice's direction. "Yes. Where are the computers?" In an ideal world you'd ask for journals and in-depth guides in Nahuatl braille. Or at least American Braille. You doubt such things even exist.

"Of course. They're just down… actually, let me take you there." You hear her approach and you feel her slip her hand into yours before she immediately starts moving. Not the best way to do it. It makes keeping pace awful. And you would have liked it if she asked you first. Or given you time to collapse the cane. Still, you do eventually find yourself in front of a computer. Then she power walks away before you can figure out how to log in, turn the screen reader on, access the internet… anything.

After many days and even more arguments on the trail you'd wanted time alone. At least time away from other people. And you need to have a talk with Pix. So far you've managed to bring Kekoa around in two talks and tag-teamed Genesis in three. Hopefully this one's as easy. But you need information. Everything you can get on vulpix thought. Make some guesses on how she sees the world. That brought you here. You're still no closer to the information.

Even if you wanted to call Genesis or Kekoa there's another obstacle. You'd have to talk in the library. You really aren't supposed to do that. Sure, you could find a bathroom or a door outside. But because Pix isn't here you'd have to ask someone. Talk to someone. Aloud.

You slump forward in the seat and cross your arms, letting the cane clack to the floor.

Why does this always happen?

[-130:18:21]

The gate creaks shut beneath you and you take a few steps forward. Your cane is out because Achcauhtli won't coddle you when you don't need it. No, not won't. Can't.

Your mind is half gone and even the remaining half feels so empty these days. There's nothing to say. Your godmother has taken over your chores for the time being. It's more kindness than you deserve but it also deprives you of a simple, routine task to get lost in.

Maybe you do deserve it, then.

You haven't told anyone about your brother's headache and neck pains. His meningitis. If you'd forced him to seek care right then he wouldn't have died. You're sure of it.

You killed him.

You still haven't fully grasped what that means.

Maybe you never will.

With more care than your body deserves you lower it to the ground. Silence. Nothing approaches. Alice had been hanging around the house for a few days but apparently ellas needed to eat. Searah's probably exhausted all the ants in the area after staying put for so long. Renfield's mourning and you can't judge him for wanting distance. And Spike…

"Hey, Spike."

Spike doesn't answer. He wrapped you in a vine when you told him. It was the most affection he'd ever shown you. Or your mother, from what memories of hers you have. Seems he's back to normal now.

Great. Just great.

The wind is surprisingly chilly for the height of the summer. You take your arms out of your poncho to hug yourself underneath it. The sleeves whip around uselessly in the wind. There's homework to do. You should go inside. Should. You won't. You were failing anyway. Again. And he can't read your books to you anymore. What's even the point?

If you ran off right now who would care? You could take Searah, Alice, and Renfield with you. Live in the woods. Escape cactus spikes and worksheets for good. Your godmother would understand. Father would have to step up around the house but surely he could handle it. Someone had to be cooking and cleaning before you were old enough to do it.

When Alice comes back you'll go.

There's nothing here for you anymore. Nothing but ghosts.

You've seen enough American films to know about their vengeful ghosts that haunt the living. Try to solve their own murders. All that stuff. It's not like there aren't ghosts in Anahuac but they're… different. Forgetful. Destructive. Apocalyptic, even. You really want to believe in the American ghosts right now. He'd come back and torment you for killing him but at least he would be around. And if he punished you then you wouldn't need to do it yourself. It would be perfectly just.

The back door creaks opens and you hug yourself a little tighter. Speaking of punishments. Father's heavy footsteps come closer until he settles down beside you, probably staring off at… whatever's in the distance.

"He was supposed to do so much more," he says with terrible resignation. You let the words wash over you and turn your head in his direction. It sounded like he had more to say. Maybe he doesn't. You certainly don't. "He had Nari's powers and pokémon. He could have taken so many captives. Brought honor and resources to the village that I never could have." You can almost feel the frown. "But he never took to the pokémon."

You shake your head. "He did. Searah and Renfield saw him as a brother. He even talked sense into 'chovsky once in a while." All those years and you never figured out how. Knowing the swanna you never will. "He just cared about humans, too." You leave the 'I didn't' unspoken.

"Hmm. Doesn't matter anymore." The wind picks up a bit more. This time you slip your arms back through the sleeves. Can't look like a child in front of Father. "And you… I had a plan for you." A hint of passion bleeds through despair. "Achcauhtli would gain money and status. You could care for his home and pokémon. But now," he takes a deep breath. You get a twinge of pain through your powers for some reason. "Now that won't work." And the passion is drowned as quickly as it came. "I had to find a new plan. You aren't smart. Or strong. You would get captured on the battlefield in seconds. Your gifts could make you appealing to a noble family, but they would not want your deformities in their bloodline."

And there you were thinking you would escape punishment today. At least this is only verbal. Even if words can hurt more than cactus spines or chili fumes. "You are decent at housework but unattractive. And high class men want smart wives. Good marriage would be difficult." You get it. You're a total failure. "But… between Nari's gift and your blindness you might be able to convince a temple that you're close to the gods." He doesn't scoff. That's left to your imagination. "That would require sending you to a school for your kind so that you might learn something. Then tutoring on manners and religion before you could ever apply to an apprenticeship."

You like to think that you're good at astrology. Can't say you're an expert on the entire religion. More importantly… "Can I bring Searah and Renfield with me?" Alice is far too big an ask. But Renfield could help you mask your powers by having a translator pokémon and Searah's not too high maintenance.

"No." Before you can argue he cuts you off. "They would only distract you. Besides, I needed money for the school's tuition." No. He can't— "I sold Nari's pokémon this morning."

You—

He—

You—

You never got to say goodbye.

Again.

"You'll depart to Tenochtitlan tomorrow at—" You swing a fist at his face. And miss, falling to the ground in the process. He stands up in an instant and pins your back to the ground with his boot. "Cuicatl. Ichtaca." Disappointment drips from his lips like venom from a snake's fangs. "Your one virtue was obedience." He presses down harder and you can feel the pressure on your spine and the metal tip on your back. "Nari's pokémon were never yours. They were mine. I did this to help you."

You scream. He'll have to back off if

No.

Alice isn't coming.

Achcauhtli can't drag him off if he goes too far.

But you scream anyw—something hard strikes you on the cheek. Your jaw snaps down on your tongue. Not hard enough to break clean through but enough to hurt and bleed. He takes a few steps away as you spit out blood.

"You will apologize," Father finally says as you start to pull yourself together. You will not. Not to him. Not after what he did. The pressure reappears on your back. "You will apologize now." No. He presses harder. Much harder. Your chest, such that it is, presses painfully against the ground. It's. It's fine. You've dealt with worse. He presses the metal tip of his boot down and steps off. He starts walking away and the door opens. "I'm almost glad Nari died when she did," Father says. "She would've hated to see what became of her daughter."

The door slams shut and you slowly press yourself up to all fours. A simple flex of your spine brings pain but shows that nothing's broken. A quick stroke of your tongue shows the same for your mouth. No. Not quite. You spit out a shard of tooth. It was at the back. No one will notice. Doesn't hurt when your tongue touches it.

Good. You're running away. You'll find your way to America and make good, valuable dollars. Then you'll buy back at least Alice, Renfield, and Searah.

Before that… Father is stronger than you but he must sleep. Even _you_ could smother him and run away in the dark.

No.

It would be killing your own blood; the Eagle Warriors would hunt you down. And. And. No. You don't deserve to. You already killed his son and wife. He did everything he could for Achcauhtli and the village. Thought he was doing everything he could for you. He does care for you. Loves you. And Mom loved him. Gods, you killed your mother's son. If she ever would have liked you she _hates_ you now. If you killed Father, too…

You bow your head in shame for ever considering it. If anything you owe enough to your mother and brother that you need to come back to him once this wrong is righted.

You can face Father again with a hydreigon at your side.

[-15:02:28]

You know that you're slipping to a bad place. Maybe as bad as the day by the water in Hau'oli. Miss Bell pulled you out then. She's not here to do that again. Should you call her later? She hasn't messaged you since you saw her between missions. No leads on Alice, apparently. Not that you could even act on any right now. Cheapest you've seen one auctioned for was $781,500. Then you'd need a little more money for Searah and Renfield. Neither species seems that expensive but if their new owner realizes you're attached they might drive the price way up.

Nothing is happening in here. You should go outside. You bought an audiobook rental account earlier. So long as you don't buy the books it's cheap to read them for a few days. Plus you can make notes on the big stuff. At the very least you can sit outside under the overhang and listen. It's probably not the most up-to-date stuff but it will do.

Before you can talk yourself out of it you reach down and search for your cane. Once it's in your grasp you extend it and start trying to map out your earlier steps.

After accidentally hitting your cane against a wall enough times someone comes to help you out.

[-14:22:59]

You have to pee.

Truth be told you've had to be for over an hour, but now you're at a chapter break and someone just disturbed you by going out the door so it's time to take care of that. You put your phone back into your bag, stand up and whoa. You stand stock still as the wave of vertigo washes over you. When it leaves your legs are still weak. How long has it been since you ate a proper meal? You didn't eat breakfast and dinner was early yesterday so… a long time. Pokémon Center's lunch is closed. You can either wait a few hours or eat out.

The latter takes money. And it'll have _so many_ calories. Even if you give Pixie some it'll still make you fatter. Focus. Pee. Now. You slowly pivot and reenter the library.

[-14:22:41]

It's only misting outside. Pixie still wouldn't like being out in it. Her fur would get wet and even if she held on for your sake she would be upset. You could send Coco out but she's not good on a leash. Runs into your cane a lot. Sometimes tries to jerk you around even though you're much bigger (for now). Makes navigation hard. You elected not to eat out. No. Not quite. You elected to let fate decide. If there's something on the way to the park that smells too good to resist, well, then you can stuff your face and regret it later.

You have to ask for directions a few times on the way but you steadily get closer to your destination. Supposedly a bunch of Japanese people came to live in Malie. They built a park themed around Johto. You've never been to Asia. Probably never will. This might be as close as you ever get and you might as well enjoy it. Even if you can't really appreciate the theming.

When you're maybe a block or two away your stomach finally makes you do something stupid. Something smells like dough. Kind of fresh dough. And fruit. Maybe meat? A sweetness to it. A lot of scents mixed together but it's not unpleasant. Smells close. You pull out Pixie's ball and let her out. The fox shakes herself off, hisses, and shoots out a wave of cold. Probably trying to freeze the water droplets in the air. Good girl. You bend down a little bit to get her attention. "Can you take me to the food?"

Food isn't far. Close enough that she just opts to tell you where to go and trail behind. "A few steps forward. A few more. Thought your legs were longer."

"Thanks for rubbing it in, Pix."

"Hmm?"

You force a smile and shake imaginary dirt off your top. "Nothing. How much further?"

When the food truck approaches you can vaguely sense it. Something ahead of you to the right. Hard to say how you know it's there but you do. Echoes, maybe? Like a dolphin. Once you get close you slow down and start drifting towards the edge of the sidewalk.

The window opens up and a man's voice comes out. "Hello. Do you want to order?"

With another forced smile you turn towards him and brush a few stray locks of hair out of your face. "Yes. What do you sell?"

"Crêpes."

Your power can't translate it. That's just the name of the thing. At least, there's not a Nahuatl word for it that you know. The meaning in his mind can't match one in yours. Whatever they are they smell good. "What do you recommend?" You don't want him to read the entire menu to you. It's a little embarrassing and you're out in the mist with an impatient fox.

"Sweet or savory?"

Hmm. Ordinarily you'd be mad that you asked for an opinion and you got a question. You're exhausted and thinking about food just wears you down more. But this is a decent question. Savory probably has more calories. More cost. Closer to a real meal. Sweet is immature. Childish. Irresponsible. It'll last for an hour or two at most.

"Sweet," your stomach says before your brain can make a decision.

"Rawst, then."

He gives a price. Higher than you'd like. Of course, you don't even know how much food you're getting. You don't want to ask. You might just walk away altogether. And you can afford it, even if it isn't wise. There's someone in line behind you and they don't object to the price so it's probably what's on the menu. You almost want to haggle it even if you know Americans hate it. In the end you just turn over a few bills and get some coins back in return.

After a few minutes of waiting you finally get your order. It's big but thin. Kind of light. Still a reasonable price by American standards. You pivot and step further back onto the sidewalk. Pix follows by your side, a tail flick marking her location. "You smell grass? Trees?" She yips. "Can you lead me there?"

She wordlessly passes by you, making sure to rub against your leg so that you know where she is. She occasionally grunts as you walk behind her, sweeping with your cane with one hand and trying to balance a kind of unwieldy crêpe in the other. You don't really know if it's sloppy or not but so far the shape seems to have held. By the time the faint whiff of gasoline and dull roar of humanity starts to get replaced by wet grass and birdsong your stomach's started to growl again. "Food is here," it says. "Human is in eating mood. Must remind her she is hungry." Bad stomach. You already knew all of that.

Once you're into the park for real and feel the pavement shift from asphalt to gravel under your sandals you give Pix new orders: "Can you find a shelter? Some place to sit out of the rain." You're pretty sure she knows what a shelter is. Can't hurt to clarify. A puff of cool air hits your ankles and you can faintly hear her moving through the grass. The rain starts to pick up a little and you hear an angry yap in front of you when the first real raindrop hits Pix. You retract your cane and step off the path. The blades of grass reach through the sandals to tickle your feet and you know that you're going to have to wash off all the clippings stuck in your shoes later but for now you welcome it. Soft. Good length. Not like the dry, long grass by Blush Mountain. Once your shoes hit concrete again you almost trip. The shelter has a floor about two centimeters off the ground. Thankfully you don't faceplant. The crêpe doesn't even fall from your hands. You extend the cane again and find your way to a picnic table. Above you the rain picks up some more but strikes the roof instead of you.

When your cane strikes something you feel it out and discover a picnic table. You gently lower yourself down to sit and hear Pix jump—twice—to get on top of the table. Your free hand slaps down beside you. "Pix, please sit here." She complies with a meaningless grumble.

Crêpe time. You unwrap the aluminum foil and feel around the edges. Doesn't seem like too much got out. Just a little… cream? Whipped cream? You bring the tip of your finger to your mouth and taste it. Maybe one of those. Or ice cream. Sweet. A little thick. Further fingertip inspection shows that it's a tortilla folded on itself with some filing in the middle. You gently hold it level and bring it up to bite.

Its good. The cream(?) flows just enough that what you bit off flows a little inside your mouth while staying in the part of the tortilla you didn't eat. Kind of cold. Contrasts with the warm tortilla. Another bite brings the rawst berries in. Sweetened. Probably in a syrup of some kind. Do they even grow rawst here? It changes the texture. Not in a bad way.

Not at all. The filling and berries are sweet but feel like they have substance. Easy to eat. You smile despite yourself. You need to learn how to make these. What culture is it from anyway? Asia? Ugh. You've done a lot of cooking but almost all of it was traditional. A few things from your mother's memories. Sometimes. Father never seemed to like that.

Father. Mother. The cream turns sour in your mouth and your smile fades. So little of the crêpe left. You let yourself go. Enjoy sweets like you have any right to after what you've done. You put the rest down next to Pix and stew in your feelings while she devours it. How dare you? Your brother is dead by your hand and you let yourself act like nothing happened.

Father is cruel. Blunt. Not always the best at business. But he wasn't wrong about you.

There's a content mewling beside you before Pixie stretches out, her front paws pressing into the side of your leg before she curls up and her tail casually rests on you. "Where's Eggbreath?"

Right. It's not about you. There's a call from deep inside to just be quiet and take the punishment. Throw up as penance. Whatever must be done. Maybe you will. Not now. You had a purpose.

"She's in her ball. I wanted to talk to you without your sister."

Her tail is very pointedly moved off your lap. "Not my sister," she growls.

You shrug. Just keep raising it. Eventually she'll stop arguing. Maybe even accept it. Doesn't have to be now. "I still want to talk." No verbal answer. No flick of the tail. She's waiting on you to speak. Why can't you pull words from the pit in your stomach? Just. Try. You had a prepared speech and everything. Deep breath. You've got this. Just get through this and then you can fall apart. "Two moons ago I asked you what you wanted and if I could help." A pause dramatic effect. You really wish you could gauge her reaction. "I want to ask it again. What do you want?"

She doesn't answer for a long time. It takes everything you have to not spiral deeper in the silence.

"Everyone leaves," she finally says. "Parents. Humans. Everyone. You'll leave."

That's a lot more than you were expecting. You'd been prepared, well, you'd been planning to slowly drag the truth from her. Didn't think she'd be that self-aware.

"And what do you want from me?"

You hear her shift next to you. Still doesn't touch you. "You'll leave."

Didn't answer your question. Doubt you'll get an answer if you ask again. Okay. Different track.

"If I say I won't you'll say that I'm lying, right?" She doesn't answer. That's a yes. "I get it. Words don't mean much. Someone else tell you that they wouldn't leave you and they did?"

"Yes."

Thought as much. One human lies about one thing, all humans lie about everything. It's a lonely thought but not all wrong.

"Well," you take a deep breath and prepare to rip open some wounds for her sake. "I already left Ce for you. Hated doing that. Tolerated a lot of nighttime screms. Let you move my cane over and over again. Watched you goad your sister into misbehaving a lot. And you told Ce to sleep on my face one night, right?" And, you, Pixie, are ugly, stupid, helpless, unmarriable, and a kin-killer. You swallow the thought and press on. You have to you're just like him. "A-and you know what? I haven't left you. Didn't go through all of that to leave you now."

No. That wasn't right. It's still wrong. Tearing her down and saying that you'll sink down and stay with her. There's another part. One that your family never quite taught you. Deep breath. Stop crying. You can do this.

"And I still love you, okay? You're very soft and pretty and you have a lot of personality. Just…" Fine. You can't stop yourself from crying. You at least turn away so she can't see the tears. "But this isn't working for either of us and we need to talk about where we go from here."

You'll cry but you won't sob. This is about her, not you.

"Damn it, Pix, say something."

A paw presses into your leg. "You're sad?"

Say something that isn't about that, damn it.

"I… yes. Sometimes." There are good hours. Days, even. Maybe. Right now you can't remember what they feel like or if they ever existed at all. "It's not important."

Another paw joins the first. "Because of me?"

"No. I-I killed my brother and I don't…" know how to feel. A lie. You do. You're feeling it right now and you very well should.

"Were there seven?"

"What?"

The paws withdraw and you can faintly feel her weight shift through the bench. Standing up? "There were seven. Six would be kept. You killed one." She says it like it's simple. Justifiable, even. Common sense.

"Is that… what happens when there are three vulpix?"

"I should have."

She's deadly serious. What the fuck? "So when there are three, even two pokémon, you try and…" You struggle to say the words that you know finishes the sentence. …kill them.

Pixie figures it out anyway. "Sometimes." Gods above, what do you even say to that? "I don't like being left alone," she says with a low, almost inaudible hiss. Shame, maybe. Or weakness. Rolling over and letting you take a shot at her organs. Metaphorically. "Then why'd you kill your brother?"

And there she returns the shot in kind. A bullet straight to the heart.

"I…" You have to do this now. If you don't she might get scared and leave on her own. Doesn't make it easier. "He was sick. I knew he was sick. Didn't think it was bad. He asked me not to tell. I went hunting. When I came back he was dead."

The rain continues to pound on the roof. Condemnation. The heavens themselves judging you for what you did.

"So you didn't kill him?"

Your scowl deepens and you growl from years of dragon bonding instincts. "If I'd told someone he could have been treated with… potions and stuff. Wouldn't have died."

She shakes herself off and starts pacing on the narrow bench, the sounds of little footsteps barely audible over the pounding of the rain and your heart. "Did you poison her?"

"No." Gods no. You never could have.

"Hurt him? The wound got infected?"

As if you could even hurt him if you wanted to. "No."

"Then you didn't kill him?"

"It's not that simple."

"_Humans_," the word is loaded with disdain. "Mistakes happen. Weavile attack. Sisters die. Life goes on."

Cold. Brutal. Draconic, even.

And you thought you were a predator.

Her pacing stops and she walks back towards you. "Is that why you were kicked off your mountain?"

"It's related to that." You don't dare explain your mission to her. Not now. You'll need more than three teammates and you don't know how you could convince her if she knew. Before she asks for more information you need to move on. "Details don't matter. I'm going to stay with you, Pix. Promise. But I need you to at least try to be nice to other pokémon. Don't give me too much stress. A few games and pranks are fine but, this," you spread our your arms. Not really sure what this shows to her. "This needs to stop."

That didn't go at all how you planned it to. This was supposed to be a negotiation, not an ultimatum.

She's silent for long enough that you begin to think you've pushed her too far and made a terrible mistake. You love Coco. As long as she's toothless your team can't do anything. Both can be true.

"No eevee. No ice-types."

Nothing that could replace her.

"Deal." You lower a hand to her and she tepidly sniffs it before slowly raising a paw onto your fingers.

Your stomach roars and ruins the moment. She slips her paw off and backs away. Above you the rain's a little bit weaker. You could probably walk in it if you had to. And you have to. Eat now or you'll keep spiraling for at least another twelve hours. "You don't have to walk in this if you don't want to. That's my part of the deal. I won't make you fight or work unless you agree."

"I'm walking you."

Maybe she doesn't believe you. Took the wrong message. Thinks she has to earn your love. Maybe. Right now you don't really care. Just a sad, pathetic who wants to stuff her face.

Focus. People at the center.

Just a girl who was offered free food if she hurries.

You slowly bend your face muscles into a smile while you take out Pix's harness. Calm your breathing. All you have to do for now.

The rain will wash away the tears.


	22. Eventually

Electric 2.6: Eventually  
_Genesis_

* * *

[-14:13:33]

You wake up to the sound of Cuicatl hissing below you. No, not hissing. Words. Cursing? Not in English. Weird. You glance down right before the lights flash on and force you to close your eyes.

"You okay?" Kekoa asks. "Oh shit," they answer.

You wait for the neon blue afterglow to fade from the back of your eyelids before opening them up. Blood. There's, um, a bunch of blood. With a shiver you go back to staring at the ceiling.

"Yes, I felt them," Cuicatl mutters. Clearly in a bit of pain. "They're very good teeth." Coco makes a happy chirping noise. Weirdly similar to the pew pew of a cartoon laser. "No!" You start from the shout right beneath you. "You don't have to show anyone else. Promise. Please don't." A red glow shines on the ceiling before quickly fading.

"Come on. Let's get you down to the nurse," Kekoa says.

Cuicatl huffs. "Someday I'll stay in a Center and _not_ have to see the nurse."

"Are, uh, you _really_ hurt?" You keep your eyes bolted on the ceiling and study the little ripples in the plaster.

"I've been worse." She sighs. "Coco bit Pix on the tails. She's going to be mad."

People move below and Cuicatl lets out another sharp, pained hiss.

"Sure you can walk?" Kekoa asks.

"Yeah. Barely broke the skin."

You'd think a tyrunt bite would do a lot worse. She's pretty lucky. Not sure what to say next. "Have fun" is entirely wrong. "Good luck" is maybe too morbid? The door shuts before you can decide on something. And Kekoa left the lights on because of course she did.

[-14:8:41]

Light's streaming in through the window when you next wake up. Crap. You slept through Cuicatl coming back. Unless she's still with the nurse… A quick glance shows that she's asleep (or at least has her eyes closed) in the bottom bunk across from you. Neither of her pokémon are out but she's bunched the sheets up in front of her and hugged them like a person. Also drooling a little. Gross.

No blood to be seen. Safe to move. You slink down the ladder slowly enough that there's no sound between the tiny creaking noises and then your feet thud to the floor because you thought there was one rung left.

Oops.

Cuicatl stirs a little. Her eyes flutter open for a second before closing just as quickly. She grips her makeshift cuddle partner a little tighter and stops moving. Kekoa sticks their face up to the railing and glares at you before rolling over to either play with their phone or go back to sleep.

You grab your shower bag at the door and walk towards the nearest bathrooms. This is the second-biggest Pokémon Center you've been in so far so there are two sets. Closest one is only a few doors down. You think that's great. Short walk. Important for Cuicatl and nice for you. Kekoa disagrees. Apparently he keeps getting woke up at night by people going to and from the bathrooms but you've never actually noticed so maybe they're just blowing it all out of proportion.

Two of the six showers are filled when you walk in. Spaced out in just the right way that the other four are all next to one of the occupied ones. Rude. There have to be rules around that. Ugh. Whatever. You can deal.

On the days where you don't have to wash your hair you can clean yourself with enough time to meditate under the running water left over. One of the few luxuries you have left and you make sure to enjoy it.

Hard to do when two twelve-year-olds walk in and insist on very loudly talking/shrieking/giggling to each other just a few feet away.

Maybe Kekoa does have a point.

They're still talking to each other in the showers once you're out, dressed, and trying to comb your hair into something presentable. Eh. At least they sound happy. Hard to stay angry at that. You finish preparing for the day and walk downstairs for food. You hadn't heard anyone make plans so it's probably fine to go by yourself.

You'll go for eggs this morning. Sounds nice.

[-14:6:34]

"I'm buying denim."

You step through the doorway into a tense argument in the making. Kekoa's leaning back on the ladder to your bunk while Cuicatl glares (?) at him from her new bed. She's gripping the scruff of Coco's neck hard enough that her knuckles are white. For her part the dinosaur's tail is held straight back and she's bent down like a persian ready to pounce.

"Cotton kills. You know that, right?"

Even you remember that from orientation. It uh, gets wet, and then it… poisons you? Can't remmeber _why _it kills.

"By hypothermia. We're in the tropics."

You're still hovering by the door. When all three of you are awake you remember how small these rooms really are. "Hi…"

Cuicatl turns to you, relaxes, and half-smiles. Relaxes. Coco yanks herself free and bolts across the aisle to Kekoa. They shoot the dino a nasty glare and easily bats her aside with a quick kick well before they get bit. You glance back and find that Cuicatl's smile's been twisted beyond recognition, her face scrunched together and the edge of her lip curled up in a vicious sneer.

"What just happened?" Her voice somehow sounds like a sword unsheathing in a movie. Her power? Just a thing she does? A trick of your imagination?

"Kekoa managed to kick Coco before they got bit."

The air immediately feels colder and Pix isn't even out. "Kekoa," she says. Her voice is perfectly flat but there are somehow layers and layers of rage behind it. "You don't _kick_ my pokémon. You don't _hit_ my pokémon. _You. Don't. Hurt them_. Not ever."

Coco, suddenly very uneasy, looks back and forth between her fighting parents. You know the feeling. Poor girl.

"I'm not letting her bite me," you think that some of Kekoa's fight is gone. In its place there's… nervousness? Uncertainty? Fear? Ugh. Negative, doubtful-ish feeling.

Cuicatl slowly shakes her head. "You should buy denim, too." She gently taps the bed beside her twice and Coco bends back down, wiggles her butt a little, and jumps up onto the bed while her arms flap uselessly in the air.

Well. You sort of started this mess. It falls to you to finish it. "So… um, if you want to go to the thrift store I'm entirely down to take you. Could be fun!"

* * *

[-14:5:49]

For once it's not raining. That's something to celebrate. And after a shower and hot meal Cuicatl does look happier as she walks next to you. Well, walks attached to you. She's grabbing your arm. Not your hand. Good. Would've had to say no if she asked to hold hands. Too much risk of repeating the whole Lyra thing. Her hair's almost jade when it's wet. Ordinarily it's sort of a light green. Looks better wet, really, although clumps do occasionally stick onto her face.

It takes a long time to walk there (Cuciatl says you don't have clothing a_nd _bus money and she might be right) but eventually you get to the store. You're not really sure what you were expecting from it but it's very big. Almost cavernous. Smells a little too much like disinfectant for your taste and the lights are almost uncomfortably bright. Not that the latter would bother Cuicatl. Lucky.

First you try the women's section because Cuicatl isn't a kid. She told you that it wouldn't work but you'd at least wanted to try to get something that fit right and looked adult. As it turns out Cuicatl doesn't actually own much stuff that was made with normal sizes in mind. But she does know her measurements so a few quick internet searches help you find the sort of stuff you're looking for. She was right after all. Well, onto the kid's section. Cuicatl looks pretty bummed out about that. Maybe you should've just gone there at the start so the reminder was less obvious. Things to remember.

But! You do find something really great!

"Hey, Cuicatl?!"

She turns towards you. Clearly not as excited as you are.

"I found a shirt for you."

It's a basic t-shirt with an orange base and a hydreigon drawn on the front with the word "DANGEROUS" in all caps beneath it. Definitely fits her vibe. She seems to agree; a faint smile forms as you describe it.

"How much is it?"

"Six dollars."

She shrugs. You'll take that as a yes.

Eventually you find some jeans that should fit her and take her back to the dressing rooms. She goes into one before you can ask if she'll need help but thankfully you're still kind of in earshot. Just standing very still and straining your ears to hear if she falls or something.

Your worries were unnecessary. She comes out unhurt in the jeans, shirt, and her sandals. The clothes are about the right length but are still a little off. Cuicatl isn't built like a tweenage boy so they hug her a little tight in some parts and hang loose in others. Maybe a little uncomfortable but it looks nice. Attractive without being slutty. More than anything you're just struck by how _normal_ she looks. You can almost imagine having gone to classes and hanging out with her in the past. Sure, she was always your age, but with the blindness and the way she dressed there was always something marking her as from a different world than you. That's not entirely gone since she still has a lot of ear piercings and green hair and cataracts but it's shifted somehow. She could have been your weird friend.

"You look good."

She smiles. For real. "Thank you."

Before you can say anything else your phone begins to vibrate in your pocket. Local area code. "One sec. Gonna take this." You answer. "Hello, Genesis speaking." Not like anyone else would be speaking on your phone. Should you have left that part out?

"Gen?" Your heart jumps into your throat and stops you from breathing. Metaphorically. (Hopefully.) "…you still there?"

"I. Yes." You start walking away from Cuicatl for a little bit more privacy.

"Good. You still in Malie?"

How'd he know you were in Malie in the first place? Does it matter? "Yes."

"Cool. So am I. You want to meet up?"

"One second." After muting the phone you go back to Cuicatl. "You have Pix and her harness, right?"

"Is everything okay?"

Not an answer to the question.

"Yes. Do you have the harness?"

"Yeah…"

"Good. I have to run now. I'll see you later. Maybe tonight." Not sure how long this lasts. Best case scenario you'll just go back tonight to get the last of your stuff and then you'll be off the trail for good.

So, so close.

It isn't far to the meetup spot. Just a couple blocks, seven minutes, and three percentage points on your phone's battery. Then you're standing in a strip mall parking lot looking at a fairly well trafficked breakfast place. Maybe you should have waited for your eggs. You take a deep breath, roll your shoulders, and walk through the doors. You spot Levi in his adorable little suit and slacks before anyone stops to talk to you and you make a beeline for him. He gets up to intercept you and you share an absolutely glorious hug at the end of the table. You don't cry, of course. You're very strong. Has he grown? It's been a few months—a few months!—so probably. He seems taller. You can't comfortably rest your head on his.

He breaks contact and slowly sits back down on his end of the booth. You slip into your side and figure out what to say. What to say, what to say. For all that you'd dreamed of this nothing actually comes. "It's good to see you," Levi finally says.

"You too," you say like a genius poet. "How'd you find me?"

"Luck, mostly. Found a note in Dad's office. Bugged him about it. He gave me your number, loaned me Red, and told me not to go find you." Red. Dad's pyroar. Descendant of your great-grandfather's starter. You've always been a little scared of her but… you're starting to realize how much you've missed her. Missed everything.

The waitress comes and you have to quickly glance at the menu. Pancakes seems good. The Center's pancakes are always pretty bad and you can add good pancakes to the long list of things that you've missed. When she leaves you've finally thought of what to say. "How have you been the last few months?"

He shrugs and takes a sip of his water. "Fine. Classes are good. Mom's been a little distant and Dad's… out of the country more often than not. Think he would've come himself but he's meeting with some military people. Talking silk prices, I think." Wait, spider silk. It's bulletproof. Could probably block tyrunt teeth. _Maybe_ even tyrantrum bites. But normal-sized clothes don't fit Cuicatl and tailored silk isn't really something you can afford. When you get a card again that would be a good gift. Levi smiles. "No _adventures _or anything. Seriously. Tell me everything."

_Everything _is a bit much to ask. You're not sure how much you want to tell him about Kekoa and a lot of stuff was surprisingly boring. But! There's a lot that you can share. By the time your food has come you've told him about the oranguru trial, bear attacks, castform hunting and why Count Cloudy is the best and will be even bestester when he learns to control the weather, leafeon and why they're surprisingly good-smelling and cuddly, the brave Sir Bubbles, Pixie's antics, Kekoa and Cuicatl raising a dinosaur together… when the food comes you keep talking between bites and by the time you're both finished you still haven't quite told him everything. Levi just smiles and occasionally asks questions but he really does look interested and you like being around him so you just keep going.

Eventually the plates get taken away. Eventually the waiter asks if you want desert and you say no. Eventually your glass stops getting refilled. Eventually you take the hint. Eventually it gets a little bit too awkward to stay in place.

Levi pays and you head off for ice cream. On the way you let out Count Cloudy and Levi tries to shake his hand… blob… things. They're made of water vapor so it doesn't work but His Grace at least seems amused by it.

Your brother does come around to talk more about himself. He did call Exodus but she didn't tell him much of anything. Honestly he seemed surprised that you called her yourself. You try to reassure him that, no, you didn't really want to do it but it was a holiday and you were alone but then he looks super guilty so you immediately drop that line of thinking and apologize for ever bringing it up.

He awkwardly shifts. Weird. That's more of your thing. He looks down and away from your gaze. "I need to go back soon."

Even you can realize that the "I" instead of "we" is a big deal. Should have realized it a long time ago. Dad not wanting to come himself. The not-approval Levi received to even meet with you. So obvious. But you'd hoped that… that this was it. Made yourself believe in spite of everything.

It feels like it should be raining. Yet it's the only day this week that it isn't. Funny how that works, right? At least Count Cloudy would shoot some water guns at your head if you asked.

Levi awkwardly pulls a few neatly folded bills out of his breast pocket and hands them to you. Hundreds. Several. Four? Five? "Sorry that I don't have more, but…"

"It's plenty. Really."

More than plenty, Kekoa might say. Wait. How do you even _use _this? You'd have to say where it came from and then there would be follow-up questions and eventually Kekoa would find out things he shouldn't and everything would fall apart. Then Cuicatl… she would change, too. Girl needs money and you'd just be a means to an end.

You'll have to break it up into smaller chunks. Claim that you're getting periodic donations from the family.

Since when did you get so good at hiding things?

"We can still call or you can visit again, right?"

He keeps his eyes averted. "Maybe? Mom checks my phone. Worried that we're talking. Next time you're in a city you could try to message Dad. I could find an excuse to visit that wouldn't tip Mom off."

You don't really get told that far in advance where you're going next but you will be between missions in a little bit. Right after the solstice, actually. Timing isn't great but you can pretend that it's just delayed celebration. "Yeah. I should be in the main Center in Hau'oli on the 25th. Head out again around the New Year. Don't know the exact day, yet."

Levi smiles and runs a hand through his hair. "Good. I'll swing by then. See if I can get Dad to come since it'll be the solstice and everything."

"That would be nice."

He flicks his head to the side. "You want to come with me to the harbor?"

You really do.

It's mostly quiet on the way back. There's just too much to say to say any of it. And you don't want to distract from Levi's presence by focusing on words. You've missed him. So, so much. For some reason it's hitting you harder now than it has at any point before.

Once his ship leaves and you wave him off you find a quiet picnic shelter in the park where you can cry undisturbed.

* * *

[-12:22:07]

Cuicatl reenters the clearing. Coco's beside her on the shortest leash she could find in Malie and Pixe's keeping a wide berth from the dinosaur. It's still weird to see the girl in normal clothing. Good weird. Wait. Pixie and Coco. _Just _Pixie and Coco.

"Where's your crabrawler?"

She shakes her head. "Pix met a crabominable before. Didn't like them one bit. Thought it was bet to let Kekoa look after him for now." Right. The big crabs are ice-types. Makes sense they would live on the ice mountain with the ice foxes. "Besides, Coco thought he was a toy."

Ouch.

Her foot gently taps a log and she maneuvers to sit down on it. Coco's leash is kept taut despite the dinosaur's attempt to yank herself free. "Hey, Gen? Mind sparring?"

"Um. Yeah. Sure? What did you have in mind?"

"Target practice. Have Coco try and hit Count Cloudy in midair." But she can't fly? That's it. A shrike hunt. Something to wear Coco down and buy her trainer a moment of peace. Brilliant.

You send Count Cloudy out and Coco's eyes immediately lock onto the castform. "Count Cloudy, dodge Coco's attacks!" Sure, you didn't _need_ to shout that like you were on one of those Asian cartoons, but you'd best get into the habit. It's way more fun when you do that in actual battles.

Cuicatl bends over and unclips the harness. "Bite the cloud. Go."

Coco rockets off, leaps into the air while flapping her arms… and misses before crashing back to earth. She shakes herself off surprisingly quickly and goes for a second attack. Cuicatl leans back on the log and takes a deep breath. "Why'd you have to run off yesterday?"

Ugh. Thought that you wouldn't have to talk about that since she didn't ask when you came back. Figures she was waiting to ask without Kekoa around. Wherever he is. Somewhere down the trail. Another campsite, maybe? Sometimes it seems like he's totally made up with you and sometimes he has to go sulk in peace. Focus. Might as well tell her most of the truth. That way you don't have to remember what lie you settled on. Plus she's psychic. Maybe lies don't work on her at all.

"My brother dropped into town. Wanted to see him while he was still here."

She hums in response. Just holding a single note for an almost impressive amount of time? Using her powers? Behind her Coco makes another fruitless jump. "Thought you got kicked out."

"What? Why?" How? How did she work that one out?

"You didn't plan. At all. And, uh, no offense but you don't seem to like the outdoors much. Plus even if it was spur of the moment you probably could've got a more traditional starter if your parents were signing off. That left running away or getting kicked out. Never took you for a runaway, so…"

"Why can't I be a runaway?" You can't tell if you should be offended or not.

"You follow orders. Would've needed to get pressed really far. You like touch way too much to have been hit. And you aren't _sad_ enough for being worn down with words. Maybe you're parents are atheists and you disagreed on that but you're named Genesis…" she shrugs. "No idea why you would've been kicked out, though. Not much of a rulebreaker."

How much of that was her power? And… "How do you know so much about all of that?"

She grimaces. "Parents are strict in Anahuac. You learn pretty quick how to tell whose Dad does what without having to ask."

You're afraid to ask what all her dad did to her. She'd probably get awkward like she did back on Blush Mountain when you pressed. No. Can't ask. Not directly. There are still other ways to get to it. "So? You a runaway? Get kicked out?"

"Both, actually."

"How?" That doesn't even make sense.

She shrugs. "He wanted me to move to the capitol. I picked another option."

"And you can just leave the country without his permission?"

"Don't really remember. Whole time period was kind of a blur." Another shrug. "I'm here now so I guess I could?" A crackle of static sounds off behind her shoulder. She 'glances' back before turning to you. "Please tell me that was Count Cloudy."

"I, um, think it was Coco?" There seemed to be sparks around her mouth at least.

Cuicatl has the decency to keep her cursing in Nahuatl.

* * *

[-12:21:56]

The good news: Denim is pretty resistant to cold and electricity.

The bad news: Denim can be set on fire.

The good news: Her little dragon knows all of the magic fangs!

The bad news: One of her jean legs is a little bit scorched.

The good news: At least she gets jean shorts out of this?

The bad news: Pix is growling softly at the edge of the clearing while all fluffed up by static.

The good news: That's pretty cute.

The bad news: Cuicatl can't even see it.


	23. (In)efficient

**AN: I have a poll up on my profile asking about my summer project. Check it out, maybe? In related news only one chapter left until hiatus. Enjoy the penultimate chapter of the Electric arc!**

**Electric 2.7: (In)efficient**  
_Unit001_101110110_

[-6:17:17]

[Unit100_110010 Summons Unit001_101110110]

Alarm Lvl 1: Mistake Probable

[Unit001_101110110 Alerts Unit100_110010 of Alarm Lvl 1]

[Unit100_110010 Summons Unit001_101110110]

Summons Received With No Amendment. Unit001_101110110 Initiates Flight to Unit100_110010. Obstacles = None. Atmospheric Anomalies = None.

Mission Successfully Completed. Summons Answered.

Unit100_110010 turns towards you. No communication signals are detected. Appraisal continues for approximately 18.711114 seconds.

[Unit100_110010 Assigns a Mission to Unit001_101110110. Mission = Monitor UnitDesignate_Cuicatl_Ichtaca. Corollary1 = Defend UnitDesignate_Cuicatl_Ichtaca. No Further Instructions.]

[Alarm Lvl 111: Heat Vent Malfunction Detected in Unit001_101110110. Mission Success Probability Beneath Tolerable Thresholds.]

[Unit100_110010 Assigns a Mission to Unit001_101110110. Mission = Monitor UnitDesignate_Cuicatl_Ichtaca. Corollary1 = Defend UnitDesignate_Cuicatl_Ichtaca. No Further Instructions.]

No further communications signals detected. Appraisal continues.

Incoming Information Packet. Src = Unit100_1100010. Coordinates Enclosed. Image enclosed.

No further communications signals detected. Appraisal continues.

[Alarm Lvl 111: Heat Vent Malfunction Detected in Unit001_101110110. Mission Success Probability Beneath Tolerable Thresholds.]

[Unit100_110010 Assigns a Mission to Unit001_101110110. Mission = Monitor UnitDesignate_Cuicatl_Ichtaca. Corollary1 = Defend UnitDesignate_Cuicatl_Ichtaca. No Further Instructions.]

Incoming Information Packet. Source = Unit100_1100010. Coordinates Enclosed. Image enclosed.

No further communications signals detected. Appraisal continues.

You turn away and initiate flight to given coordinates. Unit100_1100010 shifts behind you.

[-6:16:52]

Terrans Detected. Initiate Visual Scan. UnitDesignate_Cuicatl_Ichtaca identified.

You lower yourself behind a visual obstruction to avoid detection. Your mission has begun.

"Something wrong?" UnitDesignate_Unknown queries UnitDesignate_Cuicatl_Ichtaca.

"Nothing, just… I feel something nearby. Another psychic, I think."

Alarm Lvl 100: Unit001_101110110 Has Been Detected by UnitDesignate_Cuicatl_Ichtaca.

Options:  
[] Evasive Maneuvers  
[] Initiate Ramming  
[] No Action

Initiate Ramming is the Correct Option in 87.3% of cases. Initiate Ramming Damages UnitDesignate_Cuicatl_Ichtaca. Corollary1 = DefendUnitDesignate_Cuicatl_Ichtaca. Initiate Ramming Prohibited.

Evasive Maneuvers Negates Surveillance. Inefficient.

[X] No Action

"Like an elgyem?" UnitDesignate_Unknown queries.

"Maybe." Your exact position has remained undetected. Surveillance continues. "Hey, Pix, can you sniff it out and scare it off?"

Alarm Lvl 110: UnitDesignate_Pix Will Initiate Hostilities Imminently.

[X] Initiate Ramming

You rise up and rocket out from your hiding place, catching a strange white quadruped (UnitDesignate_Pix ?) off guard with a proper Ramming attack. You pivot around in midair and accelerate to Reinitiate Ramming.

Alarm Lvl ?: Attack Incoming

Alarm Lvl ?: Attack Connected. Assessing Damage…

Alarm Lvl 111: Heat Vent Malfunctioning.

The ice clatters to the ground around you with no damage done.

UnitDesignate_Pix Assigned Threat Level 0.

Ramming Unnecessary.

Initiate Ramming?

[X] Initiate Ramming

UnitDesignate_Pix yelps in pain as another attack connects.

"What's happening?" UnitDesignate_Cuicatl_Ichtaca queries. Query suggests an inability to obtain the information herself. Electromagnetic analysis detects no external scans. Visual analysis detects a possible impairment in her ocular scanning devices. You freeze in place so that any non-visual scanning devices have minimal chance of detecting you.

"There's a beldum. Just floating there."

Alarm Lvl 111: Reference to 001 Class Unit Detected. Identity exposed.

Options  
[] Initiate Ramming  
[] Evasive Maneuvers  
[] Do Nothing

Before SelfQuery can proceed UnitDesignate_Cuicatl_Ichtaca initiates communication: "Hi. What's your name?"

The speech carries a strange program with it. You sequester and analyze. A packet of information is attached contextualizing her communication. The program would then search your databanks for relevant context and translate. Result: "Acknowledgement. Query: Identity?"

Extremely efficient.

Information filed. Will continue to surveil. Must engage in communication to continue to surveil.

[Acknowledgement. SelfIdentity = Unit001_101110110.]

UnitDesignate_Cuicatl_Ichtaca changes the angle of its processing segment. "That's a strange name."

[Negation. Efficient.]

No electromagnetic emissions detected from UnitDesignate_Cuicatl_Ichtaca or UnitDesignate_Unknown. Inefficient.

[Query UnitDesignate_Cuicatl_Ichtaca: How are messages from Unit001_101110110 received and processed?]

"Oh, um, I'm psychic. Like you."

QueryProgram Meaning: Psychic?

The ability to send and receive messages directly between central processing units.

Efficient. Similar to Unit001, Unit010, and Unit100 abilities. Information filed. Will continue to surveil.

"Cuicatl Ichtaca, girl, you, uh, you aren't catching a damn beldum, okay?" UnitDesignate_Unknown orders UnitDesignate_Cuicatl_Ichtaca. Hierarchy established. Information filed. Will continue to surveil.

"Kekoa…" No auditory signals detected. No verbal signals detected. Psychic communication possible. UnitDesignate_Unknown established as UnitDesignate_Kekoa. Information filed. Will continue to surveil. UnitDesignate_Cuicatl_Ichtaca turns back towards you. "What are you doing over here tonight?"

Options  
[] Relay Orders  
[] Relay False Orders  
[] Do Nothing  
[] Initiate Ramming

Initiate Ramming violates Corrolary1. Relay Orders may reduce receptiveness of UnitDesignate_Cuciatl_Ichtaca and its commander. Do Nothing may end communication and hinder surveillance.

[X] Relay False Orders

[Unit001_101110110 Was Patrolling Territory. Potential Threat Encountered. Potential Threat Investigated. UnitDesignate_Pix Assigned Threat Lvl 0. UnitDesignate_Cuicatl_Ichtaca initiated communication with Unit001_101110110. Present moment reached. Debriefing concluded.]

UnitDesignate_Cuicatl_Ichtaca begins emitting short, high-pitched verbal signals. "Threat Level Zero, you say?"

[Affirmative.]

A pure psychic signal is received. [It's okay. I won't tell her.]

Even with proper definitions you struggle to decipher the context. What is okay? Why would it not be okay? Who will it not tell? Terran communication codes are extremely inefficient.

"Well, good to meet you Unit1_374. Have a good night."

QueryProgram Meaning "Have a good night"

Meaning: UnitDesignate_Cuicatl_Ichtaca assigns a mission to Unit001_101110110: Be successful until direct light from the nearest star is visible.

Alarm Lvl 10: UnitDesignate_Cuicatl_Ichtaca does not have clearance to give orders to Class 001 Units.

[Unit001_101110110 Alerts UnitDesignate_Cuicatl_Ichtaca of Alarm Lvl 10]

Its mouth shifts and one fang clamps down on the lower edge's exterior. Fascinating. What is the purpose of that motion?

"It's just an expression. I wasn't actually trying to order you to have a good night. You can leave if you don't have anything else to do here. That's all I meant."

The statement implies the capacity to give orders. The implicit meaning is incorrect. The not-order still presents a dilemma.

Options  
[] Initiate Ramming  
[] Evasive Maneuvers  
[] Do Nothing

Initiate Ramming prohibited by Corollary1. Evasive Maneuvers ends surveillance mission. UnitDesignate_Cuicatl_Ichtaca can detect Class 001 Units with no detectable signals. Reestablishing surveillance would be difficult. Doing nothing appears to agitate the present Terrans.

Further analysis required. Terrans, including UnitDesignate_Cuicatl_Ichtaca have subordinate energy beings. Subordinate energy beings are granted near-constant access to their commander. Near-constant access would make surveillance efforts efficient.

[X] Grant UnitDesignate_Cuicatl_Ichtaca command privileges pursuant to Unit100 and Unit010 directives.

[Request: Entrust UnitDesignate_Cuicatl_Ichtaca with command privileges over Unit001_101110110]

It ceases to send out auditory, electromagnetic, or psychic signals.

"Kekoa," it finally messages, "I _promise_ to only evolve them once."

"You've got to be fucking kidding me."

UnitDesignate_Cuicatl_Ichtaca forcefully vents air through its mouth. It may be overheating due to processing strain. Why? What problem is it solving? Nothing? Are terran heat vents less efficient than yours? Is it simply damaged? "They asked. Not me."

"That's, what, your third apex predator? Fourth if you get your hands on mommy's hydreigon?"

Not all of the codes are familiar. [Query UnitDesignate_Cuicatl_Ichtaca: Meaning: "Apex predator." Meaning: "Mommy." Meaning: "Hydreigon."]

"Apex predator, mommy, hydreigon," it quietly says. The program does its work.

UnitDesignate_Pix is the top predator of the mountain to the south. Information filed. All organisms on the mountain assigned Threat Lvl 0.

Human reproduction is bizarre. Information filed. Efficiency to be assessed at a later time.

Hydreigon are large reptiles with elemental affinity and raw power that could potential rival a Class 100 Unit. Information filed.

"What?" UnitDesignate_Kekoa queries.

"Just saying stuff for the beldum. They can use my power to understand words. Think that's why they want to tag along with me."

UnitDesignate_Cuicatl_Ichtaca has invented its own reasons and projected them onto you. Correcting it would hinder the mission.

[X] Do Nothing

The two Terrans gaze at each other in silence. No communication signals are detected.

"And Pix is okay with this?"

Comment suggests that UnitDesignate_Pix is a potential superior to both Terrans. Curious. Prior briefing suggested bound energy beings are traditionally in a subordinate role. Is that information incorrect?

"Pix and I came to an understanding. This is allowed."

UnitDesignate_Pix makes no attempt to give orders. It glares up at you from the ground as waves of cool air radiate away from its body.

"Plus metang are big fliers. Could carry gear without using the pack 'mon trails."

"Already thinking about exploiting your pokémon, huh?" UnitDesignate_Kekoa's teeth are bared. This is traditionally a sign of aggression on Terra. Are you witnessing a hierarchy dispute? "That's unlike you."

UnitDesignate_Cuicatl_Ichtaca rolls its shoulders in response. "I use what I have. And_ you're_ the one who always complains about the gear."

"Uh huh." UnitDesignate_Kekoa folds its arms and places them over its chest. "Look, I'm just gonna be blunt: I've heard you talk about giant fuckoff monsters and I don't trust you not to evolve that thing twice."

UnitDesignate_Cuicatl_Ichtaca vents more air. Conflict apparently places a great strain on its processing organs. Inefficiency apparent. Information filed. "I told Mara that I like predators because they remind you not to upset them. Now…" it trails off. UnitDesignate_Kekoa's reactions suggest that the conversation is finished telepathically. Efficient. Inconvenient.

Both Terrans slowly lower themselves and sit on the ground. With a motion of its hand UnitDesignate_Cuicatl_Ichtaca summons UnitDesignate_Pix over. UnitDesignate_Cuicatl_Ichtaca removes a binding orb from its mobile storage compartment and raises it into the air. "Touch the ball if you want to be caught."

Being "caught" would reduce chances for surveillance and risk successful withdrawal at the conclusion of the mission. Not being "caught" would decrease trust from Terrans. Inefficient. Necessary.

[X] Initiate Ramming

Alarm Lvl 10111: Corporeal Integrity Lost

Alarm Lvl 10111: Corporeal Integrity Lost

Alarm Lvl 10111: Corporeal Integ

Alarm Lvl 111: Heat Vent Malfunctioning

A quick rotation and optic scan detect no changes in your surroundings.

"Aside from your number do you have a name?" UnitDesignate_Cuicatl_Ichtaca queries.

[Negation]

"Do you want one?"

Terran names are inefficient. Serial numbers and class designations are efficient. An inefficient name might build trust with Terrans and advance mission objectives.

[Affirmation]

"Cool." It pauses and bites the edges of its mouth again. "Nocitlālin?"

QueryProgram Meaning: Nocitlālin

Meaning: My star.

Alarm Lvl 1011: UnitDesignate_Cuicatl_Ichtaca claims dominion over the solar system.

Information filed. Will continue to surveil.

"And is there a gender you'd prefer? For pronouns."

QueryProgram: Gender, Pronouns.

Terran reproduction is bizarre. Only two units are required. Efficient. Units must be each from a distinct subgroup. Inefficient. Units are not consumed by reproduction. Efficient.

Class 001 Units have no anatomical subgroups. [Gender inapplicable.]

"So… they/them?"

QueryProgram: They/them.

Terran reproduction is more bizarre and inefficient than previously believed. It is not always apparent what subgroup a unit belongs to. What purpose does this serve?

[Gender inapplicable.]

UnitDesignate_Cuicatl_Ichtaca clears its optic screens with the lids. Why? Optical sensors are severely impaired.

"Do you mind if I call you a girl? I don't really want to call you it. And Pix and Coco are girls. And me. I'm female."

Information filed. Will continue to surveil.

"Not how any of that works," UnitDesignate_Kekoa states.

"Again, not calling her an it."

Gender being inapplicable to Class 001 Units seems to cause distress to UnitDesignate_Cuicatl_Ichtaca. Potential violation of Corollary1.

[Gender = Female]

"Thank you, Nocitlālin."

"Still not how it works."

UnitDesignate_Cuicatl_Ichtaca rotates its optical sensors and holds out a hand. "Can I touch you, Nocitlālin? To know what you feel like?"

Speculation: UnitDesignate_Cuicatl_Ichtaca compensates for optical inefficiency with tactile sensory. Inefficient. Requires contact. Contact requires exposure to potential threats before they can be evaluated. Information filed. Will continue to surveil.

You slowly float over and gently lower the main segment of your body onto her hand. "Huh," it says. "You're warmer than I was expecting.

[Alarm Lvl 111: Heat Vent Malfunction Detected in Unit001_101110110. Unit001_101110110 is inefficient.]

"I can get a vet to look at that."

[Negation. Terran Civilization Insufficiently Advanced. Mission Success Probability Beneath Tolerable Thresholds.]

"If you're sure…" it's hand slips off you. "Can I hug you? It's okay to say no."

QueryProgram: Hug.

Meaning: Embrace with upper appendages. Purpose: Sensory Evaluation, Processing Support. Non-violent.

Bizarre. Inefficient. How does contact help with processing capabilities? You oblige it. The act is harmless and may build trust. In turn it gently presses you further into its abdomen. "You're _just _warm enough for great hugs, you know? That's efficient."

[Negation. Hugs = Inefficient.]

It gently pushes you up and away. "Do you get warmer when you fight?"

[Affirmation.]

"So once you've been fighting long enough you start to burn the stuff that touches you? That's useful."

"You giving therapy to a gods damned beldum?" UnitDesignate_Kekoa queries.

"Part of my training style," UnitDesignate_Cuicatl_Ichtaca vocalizes. In the meantime UnitDesignate_Pix jumps onto its subordinate's lower appendages and stands on its hind legs, pushing its upper appendages into its subordinate's abdomen.

UnitDesignate_Cuicatl_Ichtaca hugs UnitDesignate_Pix.

[She gets jealous.]

QueryProgram: Jealous.

Meaning: Unit seeks to mimic or steal a trait from another unit.

[Query UnitDesignate_Cuicatl_Ichtaca: What trait does UnitDesignate_Pix seek to mimic or steal?]

[The hug. If someone else is getting hugs, she wants a hug as well.]

Inefficient. Hugs are inefficient. UnitDesignate_Pix should prioritize acquisition of efficient attributes.

"Anyways, the combat thing. That's efficient, right?"

[High System Temperatures result in slower processing. Inefficient.]

"Sure. But it's a trainer's job to come up with strategies in battle. I can help with the thinking. Be –" It begins to noisily inhale and then exhale a great volume of air. "—sides, you're a beldum. You're very smart." After a gentle shake of its processing section UnitDesignate_Cuicatl_Ichtaca begins to raise itself. UnitDesignate_Pix jumps off with a noise that sounds like a complaint. "And I'm very tired. Continue in the morning?"

Is that the role Terrans hold over subordinate(?) energy beings? Fascinating. Sometimes efficient. Terrans are smarter than many energy beings. Sometimes inefficient. A properly functioning Class001, 010, or 100 unit has far faster processing speeds. The efficiency she claims is only a result of your own inefficiency.

"You can sleep under the rain fly or in your ball. I'd let you in the tent but I'd probably hit my head getting up in the night."

After querying enough terms to understand the statement you relay your desire to stay under the rain fly. You leave unstated that it maximizes surveillance opportunities.

The night passes with two incidents.

UnitDesignate_Kekoa leaves the tent and becomes aggressive when you try to surveil its fluid release.

UnitDesignate_? leaves the tent and seems confused by your presence before waking UnitDesignate_Cuicatl_Ichtaca who gives a sparse and inefficient debriefing before UnitDesignate_Genesis vents her fluids. You surveil it at a greater distance than before and agitation seems to be greatly reduced.

You repeat the process when UnitDesignate_Cuicatl_Ichtaca comes to vent her fluids followed by UnitDesignate_Pix and a strange biped with a mix of red and white feathers. An apex predator. UnitDesignate_Pix is also an apex predator. UnitDesignate_Pix has a threat level of zero.

When it sees you the biped's eyes narrow and it slowly lowers its body to the ground, tail sticking straight out behind it. With a few shakes of its hips in warning it leaps surprisingly high into the air, cold air rushing from its vocalization cavity. You float out of the way and it misses, crashing down to the ground a second later before getting up and staring back at you in less than a second, its tail moving horizontally.

"Coco!" UnitDesignate_Cuicatl_Ichtaca vocalizes. "It's not playtime now."

Your 'trainer' steps further away from the tent while you keep your ocular scanner pinned on UnitDesignate_Coco. It lets out a few grunts in an apparent attempt to initiate communication.

[Query UnitDesignate_Cuicatl_Ichtaca: Can UnitDesignate_Coco receive or send psychic messages?]

"Sort of," it answers while draining fluid waste. "I let them talk to each other. Can you figure out how to add yourself?"

[Negation. Class001 Units possesses insufficient psychic capabilities.]

"Hmm. I'll translate then. Later. In the morning." It starts walking back to the tent and UnitDesignate_Pix finishes draining fluids to walk alongside its subordinate. UnitDesignate_Coco drains fluids right on top of UnitDesignate_Pix's waste disposal site and then runs off after the other two.

Curious. Does stacking waste fluid have an additive effect? You take a small chemical sample and perform basic analysis as the Terrans and energy beings enter a resting state. The two chemicals do not appear to interact. Deliberately stacking them is inefficient.

You compile a quick report of your initial observations, encrypt it, and cast it out to Unit100_110010.

Twenty-six-point-four seconds later you receive your response.

[Acknowledgement. Continue Mission.]

Directive filed. Will continue to surveil.


	24. The Lessons Not Learned

**Electric 2.8: The Lessons Not Learned**  
_Kekoa_

[-00:03:21]

You meet up with Cuicatl Ichtaca right as she walks away from the nurse's counter. She's facing away from you so you can't read her expression. Win? Loss? Are ties possible? You tap her shoulder and she jumps a little. Shouldn't have done it.

At least, you should've been standing so that you could see her face when it happened.

"How'd it go?" you ask. She smirks and flips open her crystal case by way of answer. A yellow gem sits next to her white one. Good for her. "Wanna talk about it or…?"

She shrugs. "If you _really_ need my help, I guess I can give it."

"Like you wouldn't be begging for info if I went first."

With a gentle shake of her head Cuicatl Ichtaca pivots away from the counter and slowly begins walking towards the door, cane swishing in front of her. "Talk outside?"

"Sure."

As soon as you're both out the door Cuicatl Ichtaca stows her cane and sends out her (apparently unscathed) beldum. You shudder involuntarily. She told you that the difference between tyrantrum and metagross is that the former gives lots of warning before biting back and the latter attacks unprovoked with no warning at all. The difference between driving on a busy freeway and driving into traffic on the same road. You're still unsure why _she _uses driving metaphors. You want to trust her not to evolve the damn thing twice, really, but you've seen her entirely-too-cheerful smile when talking about tyrantrum and hydreigon and you really aren't sure if you can trust her.

The monster-in-the-making makes for a surprisingly good guide, though. Cuicatl gently places her hand around the eye-guard spike (or whatever it's called) and the steel-type floats in the direction she's supposed to go. Seems more natural than using Pixie. Not that anyone should tell Pixie that.

"You end up using them?" Emphasis on 'them.' Still aren't comfortable with her using 'she' for a genderless creature.

"No." She hesitates as the beldum changes angles as you take a fork in the path. "Sophocles used an older trial. Something involving sounds. Grubbin and charjabug as the warmups. Coco took care of both." You shudder as you imagine that thing's fire fang closing in around your grubbin, Makani. "Crabrawler couldn't take down the totem. Had to have Pixie confuse him, immediately withdraw her, and then finish with Coco."

Risky, forfeiting a round like that. Not that the vulpix was going to do too much against a steel-type. She already had her chance to take down a beldum and it didn't go well for her. Steel-type. Huh. "Did Coco break her teeth biting actual needles or?"

"Some of them." She's pretty nonchalant about that considering that she lost her fucking shit when you preemptively kicked the hellion. Apparently it's okay when she orders it, though? "They'll regrow soon enough. Tyrunt are built for losing teeth all the time."

"What set did you face?" Not sure if that information matters. Is the totem more inclined to use a set it just ran? Less? The internet is fiercely divided on the question.

"Defensive. Wish and spiky shield. Had to use confuse ray just to get any damage in at all."

That's a nasty combination to make a newbie face. Relative newbie, at least. You could easily see it shutting down your crabrawler, although limited offensive moves might let Hekeli stay in without getting blasted down. Makani definitely couldn't outpace it. At least it's only a togedemaru. Easiest totem you'll fight in the entire challenge and it shouldn't have backup. Probably why VStar sent you this way so early. Easy trial if the road there doesn't kill you.

You finally make it to where you wanted to go. Cuicatl Ichtaca slows down and feels for the guardrail. Lanakila looms in the distance. You can _just _make out the stadium on top. The throne. The place where some haole military brat pretends to be the true queen because some professor said so. A kanaka professor at that. Someone who should've known better and _still_ went on TV to say that your culture's backwards traditions are _so _much worse than the 'modern' way. The American way. Then he built a damn sports stadium on the holiest mountain. You clench your fists and take a moment to bask in the fury. This is why you left home. This is what you'll be fighting for.

"Lot going through your head," Cuicatl Ichtaca says. "Want to talk?"

Psychic. Duh. You'll never quite remember and never quite forget that she's an actual mind reader. "What all did you pick up?"

"Lot of cursing. Something about a queen and a throne? I don't try to look but you were thinking pretty loud."

She says it like it's _your_ fault that you don't know how to _think_ quietly.

…

Doesn't matter.

Don't need to go down that path right now. Just focus on the fury. "During the kingdom you could go through the trials and beat all four kahunas in a row. Then you could fight the queen for the right to rule. They brought something like it back a few years ago. Beat the kahunas or their stand ins, fight a champion who sits on a throne. 'cept we're not independent and the champ didn't even live here a whole week before she started her challenge. Whole thing's a joke. One I'm going to end."

Your friend drums her fingers on the guardrail for a few seconds before answering. "Why end it? You could be king and do what you will."

"Not king." You sigh. "Champ doesn't actually have power. Just a throne."

"Then why does it matter?"

"You wouldn't get it."

She raises her hand and the beldum floats back to her from over the guardrail. "Yeah. Don't think I do."

Why's she walking away? You barely got into it. Sure, you're mad but. Oh. That's why.

You take a deep breath and watch her go. Apologies can come later, if you come up with something you should apologize _for_. Not the first time she's put you into this situation. Can't even be angry without her judging.

[-00:02:44]

Makani, Hekeli, and the unnamed crabrawler materialize on the court. Hekeli the trumbeak hops up and lifts herself into the air with her wings. Makani the grubbin doesn't do anything at all. Least he didn't use string shot everywhere. Progress. The crabrawler shuffles uneasily and taps his claws together.

"Our second trial's soon. Time to warm up."

You let Hekeli fly laps around the court for a bit while you focus on the crabrawler. Getting Makani to do much of anything without Cuicatl around is a lost cause. Even if you had her translations there's nothing useful a grubbin could do to warm up. You throw some punches into the air and the crabrawler follows. He understands punching. Understood the basics of what trainers were and what he was expected to do even before you caught him. Punching things out is what he's built to do and this isn't too far out of the ordinary for him.

Still won't keep him, of course. You have your final team pretty well mapped out.

Once Hekeli lands back on your shoulder and you've started to break a sweat despite the cool mountaintop air you withdraw your pokémon and head to the observatory.

[-00:01:51]

There's a plaque in front of the observatory. The plaque itself isn't eye-catching, but the contents are odd: a graph with a jagged upward curve. Carbon Dioxide going up, years going forward. It used to be a warning about what humanity was doing to itself. No. What capitalism was doing to humanity. Doesn't matter anymore. No one did anything.

Then two spectacularly dumb, spectacularly evil fuckers in Hoenn decided to wake some gods up and kick all the frozen methane off the ocean floor. At the top of the observatory's steps you glance over your shoulder at the faint outline of Lusamine's island. People didn't learn from that lesson either.

You like the plaque. In a hundred years when the world drowns and some assholes try to insist that no one could have done anything about it, well, there will be a little graph in Alola to show that there's lots of blame to go around.

The cool air of the observatory's lobby rushes out at you when you open the door. There's a small museum in the lobby. A few displays on space and telescopes. A few poster boards on the graph outside. You ignore it all and press through to the bored-looking receptionist.

She glances up at you and clicks a key, probably turning the computer back on after however long it had been idling. "Can I help you?"

"Here for the island trial."

"Name?"

The name of the person who has been scheduled for this time slot for four fucking days. That's what your name is.

"Kekoa Mahi'ai." Thanks to Kanoa for getting your name changed. Before her trial You owe her a call when this is over.

A few more keystrokes. "Alright. Go through the door behind me and take a seat. Sophocles will be out shortly."

"Thank you."

"Good luck," she half-mutters as you walk away.

Yeah. Fine. She can be a little crabby. You're making her work the day before the solstice. Sophocles is, anyway. You asked for a time and this is what he gave you.

There's not really a bench or couch or normal furniture in the waiting room. Just metal fold-up chairs. Cost-saving? Part of the aesthetic? Not what you would've gone with for an electric trial. Least they could've done was tape some glow sticks on the frame and pretend it's cyberpunk.

You haven't even sat down when Sophocles walks in. He's a little bit taller than you. Fair bit chubbier. Hair's an absolute mess. Some of the captains like to lean in to celebrity. Kanoa said as much before her trial. Then again, she'd been the most dramatic person you'd known as a kid. Sophocles is either just a teenager who can't be bothered to play up the image or someone who wants you to think that of him.

Still an asshole, whatever the case is. He gets an ancient mantle, one that was never supposed to belong to people like him, and then won't show it any dignity.

You're _so _going to enjoy this victory.

"Hey." He doesn't extend his hand or anything. "Wanna come back?"

Of course you do. That's why you made the damn appointment. You just nod and follow him back to a room that does look properly cyberpunk. Big table contraption in the center with electric-types loafing about at the edges. You spot a couple grubbin and the not-totem togedemaru.

"Alright. First order of business is summoning the totem. For that we need to power up," he motions at a strange laser gun-looking device behind him, "this summoning device. And to do that we'll need to…"

You tune it out. Some charjabug will show up on the table, which is actually a three by three grid. Each corner has a button that rotates the corner tile, the two next to it, and the one in the center. Get all the charjabug in a line and then the device will charge a little bit and a weak electric-type will pop out. Then he'll have you make another line of charjabug and, surprise, totem still hasn't come. Just a slightly stronger pokémon. Then you need to make a line from corner to corner to make a Z-shape with the two other lines that got shoved to the top and bottom edges of the table. Then the laser thingy goes nuts, threatens to overload, and, surprise, the togedemaru steps up to take the excess charge and becomes totem sized in the process. Then you get to fight the totally unexpected totem.

You barely even notice when he stops talking and asks if you have questions. You shake your head no and step up to the table, finishing a puzzle meant for children in under half a minute. He should at least change this up occasionally. Now anyone with a brain, eyes, and an internet connection can figure out the gimmick ahead of time. Surely there's some better way, right?

You at least have to admire the production value. The laser gun sounds really cool as it charges. You get so distracted that you almost miss the electrike step up.

Electrike. Not fighting-weak. Best save crabrawler, especially if Cuicatl's couldn't beat the totem. Same for Hekeli and her rock smash. Only option left is…

"String shot," you call as your grubbin materializes. He really doesn't need to be told twice and a blast of sticky string comes out right as a static shock crosses the field. Thunder wave. Makani convulses a little and cuts off the string. Doesn't matter. There's enough. Then the electrike really fucks up. Starts blurring at the edges and rushing forward. It hits, sure, but its feet are just coated in string and it seems to do as much damage to itself as Makani when it trips. And now it's trapped in close. "Bug bite."

You aren't sure if the electrike knows more moves than thunder wave and quick attack. It just keeps spamming them in desperation even though neither goes anywhere. Both just dig Makani's mandibles in deeper and, newsflash, grubbin's slow as shit anyway. Paralysis isn't really changing much.

As it faints and an unseen pokéball withdraws it you can at least give it one bit of credit: at least it didn't use trick room like Kanoa's totem.

"Well, electrike sure love their electricity, but it wasn't the totem. Looks like we'll have to power up more to get her attention." And then that'll fail and you'll fight another random pokémon.

"Can I switch my pokémon before the totem comes out?"

He blinks, apparently unused to being cut off. "No, sorry."

"Cool." It doesn't really matter. You would've kept him in unless it was a magnemite or emolga. And if it is an emolga you're going to get wrecked and have to come back later with a better plan.

Next puzzle's no harder and the special effects are actually cooler. Can't tell if the hair on your arms (thicker than it was a few months ago!) is standing up because of the static or the excitement you're trying to press down.

A dedenne (European togedemaru, pretty much) jumps out and mostly avoids the string shot. Not great. Resists bug bite. Could knock out your crabrawler. Eh, screw it, Makani again. Get some more webs onto the field before the totem shows up. Your opponent doesn't go for an attack. Instead it does something like… baby-doll eyes? No, not quite. Similar. Charm. Well enough. "Send a web at it."

Even incumbered the dedenne is fast enough to step out of the way and start jumping forward, bringing its tail around for a… just a tail whip. Is it going to actually attack? It jumps back with its momentum and starts using charm again. Guess not. If you can't switch… this isn't a bad strategy. Wear down grubbin enough that it won't be able to do anything against the totem before going down. If you'd led with your best answer to electric-types you would've started on the back foot. Maybe Sophocles does deserve some credit, even if he still shouldn't be a Trial Captain.

But it really doesn't matter. Makani isn't going to do much to hurt the totem. No dirt to be found and he can't make enough for a really good mud slap. No, his role was to lay down a ton of webs. Hekeli can fly over them and, well, crabrawler legs are meant for climbing. He can bumble his way through them easily enough.

"Just keep using string shot on the entire battlefield."

The charms and tail whips roll on and the latter start to do some real damage as the arena starts to look like it snowed. Eventually Makani seems weak. He's hurt and he only has so much string to shoot, elemental bullshit be damned. That's fine. "Pull it in for a vice-grip." There has to be at least one string connecting—yup—the mouse starts getting dragged closer and closer to the grubbin's mandibles. It struggles but a few desperate tail whips aren't a match for your determined pokémon. The dedenne is withdrawn but your grubbin doesn't look much better.

You withdraw him. He's done enough and you don't want to start from a weak position.

"I think we almost got to her. Let's…"

You do the damn puzzle and the ray gun starts shaking uncontrollably, enough sparks flying out that they start to look almost like little flares. It all stops at once and an almost blinding pulse of light shoots out. One brave togedemaru, already moving before the gun started firing in a tiny little choreography mistake, jumps up and starts taking the blast. At first it looks fine but after a few seconds it seems to be in a lot of pain. Then, _miraculously…_ another, much bigger togedemaru jumps out and takes the blast. Huh. For some reason you thought the first togedemaru just got bigger. But this makes a lot more sense.

The totem looks down at the floor in disgust but steps up towards you. She's surprisingly small. Looks like she only comes up to mid-thigh. Shouldn't be too hard to overpower. Time to get this show on the road.

"Crabrawler, leer."

Your pokémon comes out and starts glaring (which, somehow lowers physical defense… hey, you don't need to know _why _it works, just _how_ it does, it's all elemental bullshit anyway). The totem… she does nothing. Just stands there for a bit. Afraid to cross the webbing? No. She starts applauding. Trying to applaud. Her tiny little hands don't _quite _reach so she ends up beating her chest. You know what this is.

Encore.

It's not the worst thing that could happen. You don't _think _the totem can set up. And wearing down defense is good. Gives you time to think. And the totem doesn't seem to be moving. No. She moves, daintily hopping around the worst of the webbing before gently kissing the tip of crabrawler's head. Your pokémon doesn't react at all as sparks fly out and race all over his body. Too busy leering.

Alright, so the togedemaru can navigate string shot—and of course it can, Cuicatl said that her warmups were grubbin and charjabug but you were too stupid to put two and two together—and your pokémon's paralyzed. Speed advantage decidedly on the totem's side now.

Only good news is that crabrawler stops glaring and starts looking around the arena in a daze wondering where the time went. You snap your fingers. "Advance and rock smash." He gets that much and starts slowly marching forward, claws smacking into each other as he prepares for a good punch. The totem… giggles? Can togedemaru do that? Giggles, not giggles, whatever as sparks fly through her fur. Zing zap, probably. It'll just get her wrapped up in string like the electrike.

Right before crabrawler reaches the edge of the string field togedemaru jumps to the side, yellow sparks obscuring her form as she hits the table device and bounces right into your crabrawler, knocking him off balance and into the string. The totem bounces back, first to the table and then right in front of your downed pokémon.

She sticks her tongue out. Right before crabrawler rock smashes her in the face with a surprisingly fast punch before slowly trying to get up. The totem wants none of that and zing zaps him back to the ground again. Still almost no string on her body.

Come on, Kekoa. Be a trainer. Think. If you can't get up there's still one option… bubble. Except having water everywhere hurts you more than the totem. What else is there? Leer, no, that just means taking hits. Rock smash won't land often enough. Pursuit—shit, maybe?

"Pursuit," you call out as the totem goes for her third zing zap. Crabrawler takes the hit on the chin again. Then darkness starts spiraling around him and with strength he should not have he rushes forward, string falling off behind him, and lands a solid hit on the totem right as she lands.

Hell yeah. Another point for elemental bullshit.

Needles scatter onto the floor as the togedemaru rolls back before stopping herself. Guess the leer and rock smash made the needles more brittle or something? Again, still not sure how half this shit works. Maybe Cuicatl's read something. Listened to something. Whatever. The totem looks almost nervous, none of her earlier confidence remaining. Could be a bluff. Togedemaru aren't strong or tough but they're tricky.

"Advancing rock sma," before you can finish the order the togedemaru starts clapping again. Why? That's a bad move to be facing if her only move is zing zap. Unless… nuzzle, zing zap, encore. Totems always use four moves a match. What's her final attack? Iron head? Maybe. Probably.

After a quick false start where crabrawler trips as sparks fly out around him—earning another razzberry from the totem—another quick shadowy punch strikes into togedemaru. And another. And another. And another. Why? What's she planning? Wish? You didn't see one. Spiky Shield? Would've been thrown up already. Besides, there are enough needles littering the floor that it can't be as effective as it was early on.

A red glow forms around the totem just as crabrawler steps back and stumbles around, dizzy from the encore's end. Oh no. Oh shit.

The totem lunges forward with more force than you've ever seen _any_ pokémon use in person and crabrawler's sentflying across the floor, through tons of needles and string, before you can even give a pointless order. Fuck. There's blue blood everywhere and crabrawler isn't getting up.

You withdraw him and start tossing your final pokéball into the air as you calm your nerves. Reversal. Fucking _reversal_. Toss. The totem's taken a bunch of hits. Catch. Plus rock smash and leer had to have hurt. Toss. But _reversal. _Catch. Hekeli ain't taking that shit and getting back up. Toss—a blur shoots out from the floor and stops right on your shoulder as the totem appears and flicks the pokéball to the side with her tail before jumping back and completing the zing zap. Damnit. Now your hair's sticking up and the surprisingly heavy little monster knocked you over. You can't see the match from the floor but you know what you need to do.

"Rock Smash!" You shout it like the words can add any power to the attack. You can hear Hekeli give her best warcry in response and see her as she zooms down, brown aura trailing from her beak—you hear the hit. See the aftermath. Hekeli rocketing back up towards the ceiling, red scratches all over her chest from the needles and one wing slightly bent in a way it shouldn't be. She does her best with her remaining wing to control her descent after she _cracks_ against the ceiling and somehow you manage to get up and lunge to catch her before she hits the ground. Is that disqualifying? Screw it, don't care if that's how you get disqualified.

You glance over, fully expecting to see the totem sticking her damn tongue out again in a little victory pose only to find her collapsed on the ground, static coursing through her needles and eyes closed.

Is that it? Who won?

The totem disappears in a flash of red light and you remember that, hey dumbass, you have a pokéball. You gently set Hekeli down on the table and withdraw her. All three pokémon down, two badly hurt. Victory or not it doesn't feel much like one.

"Don't think I should use reversal again in early trials," Sophocles says. You'd honestly forgotten he was here. And when did he get behind you? He holds out a hand. "I can send over your pokémon if you want. We have an instant transporter to the Center in the room." You quickly put all three pokéballs onto the table and he picks them up and brings them over to the wall. A quick flash later and they're probably off being healed. "Don't think it was _too_ serious by the way. I've seen a lot of trumbeak and crabrawler over the years and neither looked hurt beyond repair."

"I also don't think you should use reversal," you say, temporarily too ashamed to be furious. "And I hope you're right." For his sake. You got warned about excessive force for just pecking too hard. Then _he_ goes and starts shooting fucking togedemaru-shaped cannonballs at low-level pokémon. Heh. Now you're angry again. Welcome back, rage, my old friend.

He pulls some stuff out of the wall and walks back before handing over a crystal with one hand. "Here's your Z-crystal. Congrats." He doesn't sound overly enthusiastic. Or ashamed. Bastard. "And something to make up for the whole 'reversal' thing." This time he extends a bracelet with a sparkling stone attached. Z-Ring. Something to let you _use_ your crystals. Make them more than little trophies.

On one hand you're pissed that some haole slob is the one to let you use your own country's powers. But, hey, that's the whole story of the journey, isn't it? You take the ring without comment.

"They can resize that for you at the Pokémon Center."

"Thanks," you mutter before turning around and walking away.

[-00:00:17]

"Kekoa?" you perk up at the call and start moving towards the counter. The nurse doesn't look too concerned. News can't be all bad. She gives you a slight smile once you reach the desk and cross your arms. "Your grubbin's been restored to full health. We'll need to watch the other two overnight. Then you'll have to keep your trumbeak's wing in a splint for a week."

You nod. Could have been much work. "Thank you."

"No problem." Her smile broadens. Was probably worried you'd get angry at her for Sophocles' mistake. She's kanaka too. Probably gets all the trainer rage. "Any questions?"

You shake your head and take Makani's pokéball off the table. "No. Thank you again."

"You're welcome. Come back tomorrow morning for your other pokémon."

It reminds you of the old meme of a clearly exhausted nurse saying, "we hope to see you again." Whatever happened to her? Did she quit? Get fired? Maybe you should look it up later.

You walk back over to The Gage Heiress and Cuicatl. The Gage Heiress is ranting about something or other and Cuicatl's patiently listening. The former at least shuts up for a second when you approach. "No permanent injuries. Ice cream's on."

The Gage Heiress had really wanted ice cream. Bugs you about it in almost every city but now, where all three of you passed your trials in two days, it was particularly insistent. And if the boss herself is telling you to be nice to it, well, this is the least you can do.

Cuicatl smiles and slowly gets to her feet while The Gage Heiress jumps right up. Your friend gently picks up Pix's leash and follows your footsteps and The Gage Heiress's voice as you walk out the door. The air's cool, the sunlight's faded a bit, and there's a nice breeze. Almost wish you wore a jacket. Not that the ice cream place is too far. Probably caters to people who had the same idea as the blabbering idiot next to you.

The line and all the seating's outside. The Heiress goes first. Gets leppa like a weirdo. Pays for itself but won't cover for its poor 'friends' like a normal person with literal swimming pools of cash. Then Cuicatl gets a Castelia Cone (her mom's Unovan so maybe there's some nostalgia there) and a small pet cup of vanilla for Pixie. A satisfied blast of cold air hits your legs after that's ordered and paid for.

Honestly you want to go for Chocolate Caramel Cookie Cake but you know that Cuicatl would never, ever let you hear the end of it. You settle for mint chocolate. There'd been a running joke at The Aether House that mint chocolate was the flavor elementary schools used to convince kids that ice cream wasn't actually good. Never got the joke yourself. Their loss. More for you.

Your traveling partners are sitting at the edge of the porch, legs dangling over the side. The Heiress is too distracted scarfing its ice cream down (isn't it at all worried about brain freeze? 'course not, it doesn't have a brain) to talk and Cuicatl has been quiet around you since this morning. You didn't even say anything mean to her. Just got upset about someone else. Pix, of course, stops eating her portion in huge bites and starts daintily licking the edges once you start looking at her. You'll pretend that you don't see her little ice cream moustache.

You put your cup down and start to lower yourself to the

[00:00:00]

wooden planks at the edge of the porch.

A distant light starts shining over… Poni? Yeah, Poni. Then it starts moving down. Like a funnel cloud. A tornado of light. Except the patterns are all wrong. Almost like… wormhole. Except it definitely shouldn't look so big from this far away.

Bright "cracks" start racing from the hole in all directions like the sky itself is breaking. Before you can say anything an ear-splitting _boom_ rushes past you. The shockwave—shockwave!—stirs up dust and you have to close your eyes and cover your ringing ears until it dies down. When you open your eyes again the cracks are still there, bigger now, with one directly above you. That's not the worst part. All over the horizon you can see little drops of twisted light dipping down from the cracks.

Then things get darker. Literally. At first you think it's the kicked up dust but it comes way too suddenly and well after the shockwave. The sunlight goes first. The nighttime lights of the shop come on for a moment before they go off as well. No. Not entirely. You can still make out a faint glow around them, but it's swallowed up almost immediately. Only the cracks still provide light but it's strange. You can see them easily but the light doesn't bleed out to illuminate anything else.

Giant wormhole. Shockwave. Stolen light.

This feels like…

No.

_No._

When the sirens come on it seems like an afterthought. How could anyone not know that this was an emergency? That…

No.

No.

No no no no no no no no no no no no, NO.

Someone let out another god.

The small part of your brain that's still functioning is glad that no one can see you hug yourself and rock gently back and forth. No one can see the tears that make what little light there is even blurrier.

Someone let out another god.

"Nearest shelter location's the observatory." Because of course you looked, you always look. You don't tell them that it's not rated for shit like this because in the year two thousand and nineteen there are still fucking towns without a god-tier shelter because _no one ever learns their damn lesson. _They'll have to evac you to Malie when it's safe but with the wormholes.

Fuck.

Fuck.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.

You didn't survive _Kyogre _and _Groudon _and _motherfucking Lusamine _just to die now.

But…

It's dark.

Which way is the observatory? What happens to your pokémon in the Center?

From the sounds of panicked screams and people tripping all over themselves it doesn't seem like anyone else has answers either.


	25. Blacklight

**Mission Three: Flying**

_"Poo-tee-weet?"  
_-Kurt Vonnegut, _Slaughterhouse-Five_

* * *

**Flying 3.1: Blacklight**  
_Selene_

* * *

[-00:00:21]

"Hello?" you sleepily mutter into the phone, still mostly enthralled by your afternoon nap.

"It's here almast. Just a few minuteses out."

The accent and wording are unmistakable. As is the meaning. You hop out of bed and throw on your belt and the first pair of shoes you can find (slippers with little vulpix ears on the side, as it turns out). "Thought we had months!" you half-shout half-whisper into the phone as you rush past Mom and out the door.

"As did me. It found a wornhole."

You open Nebby's pokéball and hastily slip onto her back, trusting her telepathy to fill her in on what's going on and where you need to go. As soon as you're gripping her shoulders she takes off fast enough that your arms would be ripped off without her telekinesis holding you down. Melemele slips by in a blur as Poni grows closer and closer.

{You're scared,} Nebby messages, an aura of comfort around the words.

{You're not?}

She doesn't answer until you're nearly on Poni.

{How does it help?}

{Hmm?}

{Fear.}

You groan but don't give a proper answer. Fine. It doesn't help. But things weren't supposed to be like this. You were supposed to have other trainers, other legendary pokémon, the best science in this world and others. Instead it's just you and Nebby. That will have to be enough.

Nebby casts you off and your ankles let out a flare of pain as you unexpectedly hit rock, only held upright by Nebby's abilities. A quick glance confirms that you're on top of the Altar where she'd evolved, Vast Poni Canyon stretching out for miles behind you.

"Alright, Nebby, start by keeping your distance. I'll keep an eye on things. See if it has patterns, openings…"

You wish there was more you could do, but you're at a big disadvantage here. There's no archival footage to watch of the thing battling. Nothing more than a few drawings and the scattered tales of survivors. It has claws, supposedly. Nebby doesn't. Best to keep things to a distance. And if she's faster, she could dodge attacks and wear it down at range.

{Of course.}

She's still too damn calm. You're drowning in unknowns and it's almost like she doesn't care. The plan only works if the necrozma isn't even stronger than her at a distance. If a creature that feeds on light is harmed by moongeist beams, shadow balls, psyshocks, hyper beams… her Z-move if you must. The feedback is brutal for you but Nebby will be taking worse. It's the least you can do.

Nebby descends lower and wraps a wing around you. {I _am_ scared. For you. For Lillie.} You flinch at your ex's name but she carries on without mentioning it. {I am not scared for me. I am strong.}

Fine. Fine. She should be terrified but if it hasn't got through her giant, adorable skull maybe it never will.

You unleash Incineroar without a word. He looks between you, Nebby, and the Altar and then shoots at you with a questioning gaze. "Don't engage the thing unless I tell you to. Just keep my shielded with protects. Don't get hit yourself, either. We don't know how strong this thing is."

That's a partial lie. The Ultra Recon Squad had lots of numbers on how strong a necrozma can be if it's given time to drain light. Strong enough that you'd have to pray that Arceus or Xerneas or any other supposed creation god is every bit as powerful as their worshippers believe. Without time to charge it's _probably _closer to Nebby's power.

That's not at all reassuring.

[00:00:00]

A blinding light shines high above you.

Years fighting Ultra Beasts have given Incineroar the instincts to immediately throw up a shield at the first sign of trouble. For the best. The wormhole opens with a sonic boom and a strong pulse of air. If you hadn't been protected you would've been violently thrown to the hard ground.

Incineroar drops the shield and you look up at the slowly descending figure. "Black" doesn't do it justice. The creature absorbs all the light that touches it. You can only really make it out as the absence of any color at all.

"Nebby, begin—"

It screams directly into your brain. Your hands fly uselessly to your ears. Darkness overtakes you before you hit the ground.

[?]

Incineroar is purring nervously above you, crouched down on all fours and guarding your body with his. You try to ignore the headache and gently push his side to get him to move. He complies and gives you a better view of the ongoing fight.

Nebby fires off a moongeist beam and the necrozma stands still and takes it. A moment later the same beam is shot back out and strikes Nebby directly on the forehead. The bat cries in shock and floats itself back instinctively.

"Dodge it!"

She startles and looks down towards you. What she doesn't see is the necrozma racing forward faster than anything that looks so un-aerodynamic has the right to move. Before Nebby can react one of the Ultra Beast's spiked hands grabs Nebby's head and they both plummet down. Incineroar's shield protects you from the fallout but blocks your view. When it fades a second later you're treated to the sight of Nebby held down by both of the monster's hands as a strange… black… light? overtakes them both.

Another shield goes up. When it fades Nebby's gone.

No, not gone.

Nebby has been consumed.

The necrozma floats in front of the Altar. The long wings of a luanla extend from either side of its body, radiating blue light. Nebby's head is mostly the same pure black as the necrozma's body, but now a mix of strange Z-crystal-like eyes adorn it. The dark claws of the necrozma stretch out from the pokémon's midsection, flexing open and closed in the air.

You steadily get to your feet and stare at it. The creature, in turn, stares back at you.

A challenge, perhaps. You remember that Nebby looked much the same after you first got back from Ultra Space. When she wanted to see if you were a worthy trainer.

Is it really that simple?

You can't take the chance. You send out all of your pokémon and start giving commands.

"Darkest Lariat, now."

Incineroar doesn't hesitate to charge forward, cloaked in shadows. It buys you time. "Tox, guard me. Kommo-o, stay back. All others attack." The necrozma almost casually bats Incineroar aside with one of its hands just before all hell breaks loose. Vikavolt starts launching thunderbolts above you with Lycanroc joining in on the ground with accelrocks. Incineroar gets back up to breathe out more fire. Necrozma simply takes the flames and rocks with one wing and moves the other to block the thunderbolts.

"Flare Blitz." The flames are useless. A full tackle might not be. You don't bother watching, turning instead to kommo-o as you slot the proper Z-crystal invto your ring. "Clangorous Soulblaze."

The necrozma lifts into the air with a few flaps of its glowing wings, narrowly dodging the flare blitz while continuing to tank accelrocks and thunderbolts. (Ground type? Dragon type? Maybe it doesn't obey type rules at all.) You manage to put your hands over your ears (should've grabbed earplugs at home, dammit) right before Kommo-o gets loud.

The Soulblaze does seem to upset necrozma for the first time in the battle. Bad news is that the creature screams like Nebby. Almost like Nebby. There's a terrible noise like a record scratch just below the surface. It distracts you and you almost don't catch the streams of light start to trail towards the necrozma's head as—Moongeist Beam. "Shields up!"

You see most of your team start to follow the order as you close your eyes to block the worst of the light. Even through your eyelids and the toxapex's protect you can still see the light flare. Hear the sound of a barrier shattering and a kommo-o's cries of pains. The light dims and you hesitantly open your eyes. Your kommo-o is breathing heavily, but a dim red aura has surrounded her. The Soulblaze worked. Now you can fight the monster on more equal footing.

You give the specific snap for her orders. "Outrage." All across the field attacks resume as Kommo-o starts running faster and faster, preparing to jump. The necrozma screeches and the air distorts as a psionic attack flies at the dragon in midair. It doesn't break her momentum. They collide and the necrozma is driven back, but your pokémon gracelessly falls to the ground and crumples in a heap. The pokéball withdraws her. Still alive.

Refocus on Incineroar. Necrozma's flown too high for ranged attacks to do much. Dark Pulse? It's not something you've put a lot of training into. But if fire can't do it, maybe darkness can. It might at least disrupt psychic attacks.

Before you can give the order necrozma spreads its wings into an almost perfect circle and they start to glow brightly. Another Moongeist Beam. No. Not Moongeist. There isn't any light spiraling in. "All but Tox, shields up!" You've done a lot of training with Toxapex. You trust him to get the barrier up in time and you need a look. Cracks, no, lines and concentric circles, start forming on the wings. A wormhole. Summoning something? Another UB?

You get your answer very, very quickly as clumps of rock and ice start blasting out at blinding speeds. One scores a glancing blow on Lycanroc's shield and shatters it. Another sends her sprawling back with visibly cIncig hits by the time Tox has finished using Protect. Too quick. The attack was far too quick. You remember reading somewhere that a paperclip moving at the speeds of space junk could puncture metal. None of your pokémon are armored nearly well enough to take another barrage. You hear Incineroar let out a roar of pain before your body catches up with your mind and you withdraw everyone but Toxapex.

The sound of the projectiles stops.

The sound of the projectiles stops. "Shield down," you mutter, reaching to your belt to grab the one last-ditch tool you've saved for years. As soon as you can see the alien, you reach back and throw it as hard as you can.

The master ball freezes in midair. That shouldn't even be possible. The tech is too well safeguarded against attacks of all kinds. Then it crumples inward in a flash of sparks before the metal drops uselessly to the ground beneath it. Another shimmer of air crosses the battlefield and knocks out toxapex.

You withdraw your last pokémon. It occurs to you that all of your pokémon—wait—you hit the withdraw button on Nebby's pokéball—and nothing happens. Worth a try, at least.

It occurs to you that all of your pokémon but Nebby survived. That's something. Maybe… no, there's no healing your team under the necrozma's watchful gaze. A shame. Its bleeding light in at least five places on its wings. Another round and maybe you could have done occurs to you that all of your pokémon but Nebby survived. That's something. Maybe… no, there's no healing your team under the necrozma's watchful gaze. A shame. Its bleeding light in at least five places on its wings. Another round and maybe you could have done it.

As if on cue light spirals in towards the alien and the sky around you grows ever darker. Once the streams of light are absorbed the damage is all healed. Never mind. It wouldn't have mattered. You lost—Alola lost—the second Nebby did.

There's almost relief there. Over four years of non-stop incursions and you went and blew it. Even if you lived to see another fight no one would plead with their words or tone or eyes for you to go out and save the world while the public sits back and watches.

If only you got a chance to say goodbye to Lillie. To Mom.

The necrozma floats ever closer. Even in the dim light you can see the pitch blackness of a claw lowering. You close your eyes and whimper just before it reaches you. Maybe it's cowardly but no one else will ever know. Something cold and incredibly smooth touches your cheek and glides up to your hair, running through it before rising high enough that all of the strands fall back down.

You open your eyes again to see the tip of one claw lower back down towards you. The blinding blue light of a wormhole shines behind you before the alien gently pushes you backwards, through the hole and onto something soft.

It takes you almost a minute to process the fact that you're still alive. It takes another twenty seconds to recognize the smell of your bedroom. Another ten to realize that your eyes are open and you still can't see anything.

Another thirty to finally hear your phone ringing in your pocket. You answer it without checking who it is.

"You know why it's dark all of a sudden?"

Nanu. He sounds bored, as usual. Like he's discussing an inconvenient afternoon storm instead of a sudden, region-wide blackout.

"Yes."

"It going away any time soon?"

"No."

He sighs. You can imagine him shaking his head and pulling himself off the couch, maybe pushing a meowth aside in the process.

"Anything I can do?"

"You at home?"

"Yes."

"Head out to Po Town. Make sure people are staying inside."

"Anything else?"

"No."

He hangs up.

The phone immediately rings again.

[00:01:38]

It takes an hour and a half for someone to set up a conference call with the Kahunas, the military, the governor, and INTERPOL. Maybe a few others. You're struggling to care, still weighed down by the shock of the loss.

It suddenly occurs to you that you'll have to call Lillie later. Tell her about Nebby.

You'd rather fight the necrozma again.

"Miss Perry, can you give us your account of what happened?"

You can do this. Just. One. Call. "Two hours ago the Ultra Recon Squad contacted me. Said that the necrozma hit a wormhole and was only minutes away. I flew to the Altar of the Sunne to meet it. There was a short battle. I got knocked out. The Ultra Beast merged with Lunala—"

"Merged?" Kukui asks beside you. He was generous enough to let you stay in his lab, under his protection while your team healed. Even helped get you there. It's strange. Knowing and hearing that he's three feet to your right but not being able to see him at all.

"There was bright light. Then Nebby was gone and the necrozma looked like a mix of itself and a lunala."

Lunala, not Nebby. Bleh. Some of the kahunas don't like it when you call their goddess by a pet name.

"How?" Olivia asks, like you would know that.

"Maybe Kukui knows?"

"I don't."

You don't pick the topic back up. After a few seconds of silence you continue. "I fought it with the rest of my team and lost."

"It let you walk away?" The governor sounds strangely hopeful. "Maybe it can be reasoned with."

You'd gone through that thought earlier once the shock faded a little and you stopped taking calls long enough to get your pokémon to the Center. "I think some of Nebby survived. All of my pokémon lived and once they were all defeated, the necrozma opened a wormhole to my bed and knocked me through. I don't know where it went after that."

"The thing is still here?" Admiral Wilford asks. "Why the hell didn't you lead with that?"

"The Ultra Recon Squad said that they usually sit in orbit or in another dimension entirely. But…" They never told you it could merge with lunala. Or that it might get some of her personality in the process. "It's acting odd. Anything's possible."

"I'll go the canyon and check," Hapu says. "If you don't hear back from me, assume it's still there."

No one says anything. Because what is there to say?

"Necrozma brought dozens if not hundreds of Ultra Beasts with it." Olivia. Pleading, but resigned. "Can we afford a kahuna taking time off to go on a potential suicide mission?"

The chat erupts in people talking over each other before Hapu breaks through with a few half-shouts of "It's fine!" Once everyone's quieted she continues. "The Captain's planning to take everyone in the village to sea until things calm down here. The Battle Tree is full of people who can handle it, and the park rangers have dealt with UBs before."

"I'm not worried about Poni," you interject before anyone else can. Too quickly to be tactful. "No offense, Hapu." She grunts in acknowledgement. "And Melemele is small. Hala, Hau, Kukui and the other trainers here can respond quickly enough when there's an attack. Ula'Ula and Akala have small towns far apart. Worried more about them."

"Thanks for the thought, kid," Nanu grumbles.

"Good luck, Hapu," you add after realizing that you hadn't done it. "Thank you for volunteering."

You aren't going to try to talk her out of it. You need to know if the necrozma is still there and she's one of the only people you trust to navigate the canyon in the dark. It's still a brave thing. You'll make sure to do something special for her if she survives and the necrozma is defeated and you survive as well.

"No problem," she answers. Implying that walking straight towards an alien god that could almost certainly defeat her entire team and kill her is not something she sees as a problem. Your gift will need to be _really_ special. A hippowdon? Rhydon? Or one of those giant Galarian sand snakes. Maybe you can find the money for a recently thawed mamoswine. Helps that picking up any of those is an excuse for a vacation when this passes over. If it passes over.

Kukui's ninetales barks outside. The professor swears under his breath and starts awkwardly hobbling towards the door. The man gave you _and _Nebby a run for your money. He can handle whatever Ultra Beast showed up.

You put the call on mute once the moonblasts start. Then immediately take it off mute and speaker when something occurs to you. "What are we doing with fallers? Lila and I can take care of ourselves. Others can't."

"I plan on going into the middle of nowhere to get the UBs away from cities," Lila says. "We could move the others to Hau'oli or Malie. Stick a few powerful trainers near the city limits to deal with hostiles."

"I can put a lot of battle-tested sailors into Hau'oli if given the okay," Admiral Wilford adds.

"Do it," the governor orders. "I've already activated the guard."

You purse your lips in the dark. "Tell them to be careful." As the cliffs of Sootopolis collapsed and Hoenn was under siege, your father chose to help the people of Japan until the very end. How many brave soldiers will die as he did before the necrozma is driven back?

Your sentiments are echoed by almost everyone in the chat. As they trail off, Gladion butts in. "I hate to be the one to bring it up, but if we do find Necrozma, how do we deal with it? Champ's already lost. Lunala's already lost. What else are we throwing at it? And what if it is in orbit or somewhere else entirely? How do we get to it? Does that even bring the light back?"

"It is an Ultra Beast. If you and Silvally can lend a hand…"

"Sure, fine, I'll put my life on the line I guess. You really think it'd do any good, though?"

"I'm not sure." It eats light. The Ultra Recon Squad thought that the more light it absorbs, the harder it will be to fight. At some point it will be like fighting the sun. Maybe macargo or rhyfernal or a really strong or fire-type legendary could deal with it. Hard to imagine anything else getting close without vaporizing on the spot. "I'll try calling other people in. Shirona is in on Poni, I think. Chris is..." Chris Foster is lving on your ex-girlfriend's childhood home when he can be bothered to be in the same country as VStar.

"And why _didn't_ you call for any help in the first place?" The governor asks.

"I had very limited time." That's true. It's not the whole truth (even if you had remembered to call people he would've been well below Shirona and Gladion), but it might get the governor off your back.

"Couldn't you have used some of that time to call for reinforcements? It seems irresponsible to…"

You stop listening as he drones on and on and on. He's going to try and pin all this on you isn't he? What can he actually do? You're pretty sure you didn't break any laws. He might try and make you pay for everything that happens. The last governor did that with Lusamine. Difference is you've got next to nothing compared to what she had. And the damage is only going to be worse.

That and you didn't intentionally open up a few dozen portals and permanently weaken the barrier between Earth and untold worlds of monsters. You just failed to stop someone else from doing that.

Just like last time.

The ninetales hisses in pain outside before the wind picks up. Even inside the house you can feel the cold, especially as it slips through the bottom of the door and towards your still-slippered feet. Damn it. At least no one can see it. "I might be missing something, but I don't think we ever established how we're getting off the planet," Nanu says. "I think she used Lunala for that."

"I did. Maybe the Ultra Recon Squad have some idea. Or Professor Burnet." Or Lusamine, if you get desperate. She opened up a portal when you first visited Aether Paradise. She might have a way to do it without Nebby. Unless the tech got dismantled after the auction.

"The Ultra Recon people are fallers, right?" Lila asks.

_Shit._

That's why they haven't called.

The door opens and Kukui's footsteps sound off behind you.

"What'd I miss?"

[00:04:15]

"Roto…" You sigh and cross your arms. Kukui's outside with his pokémon. Giving you privacy. You'd better hurry up and make the damn call. "Call Lillie."

She picks up on the second ring.

"Selene! Oh my god I was worried about you! Why haven't you been picking up? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Just busy." You take a moment to steel yourself. She immediately starts talking again but you ignore it. "Nebby's gone."

"What?"

"A really, really powerful Ultra Beast arrived. It fused with Nebby. I don't know where it is now. I'm sorry."

"I—are you alright?"

"What?"

"If it could… could do _that—_"

Damn it. You'd forgotten that Lillie was like this. Break her heart into pieces and stomp on them in front of her and she'll still be there for you in the morning. It's why you had to break up in the first place.

"It let me live." You pause, carefully considering the accuracy of what you're about to say. "I think some of Nebby's mind might still in there."

"Then you can't kill it," she says. "Just knock it out. Make it unfuse. Like Mother and the nihilego."

Mother. She still calls Lusamine "Mother." You'd hoped that breaking up with her would get it through her skull that being with Lusamine was bad for her. _Changed_ her. Guess she didn't get the message.

But you already knew that.

"I'll try. Really. I will."

"Thank you."

Neither of you talks for a long time. A few years ago you would've been more than fine with that. You'd find somewhere quiet to sit and call her and sometimes you'd just stay on the line in silence for hours, both of you just glad the other was there in spirit. Now the silence is cutting.

"You don't want to talk about how things are going, do you?"

"No."

"Can I tell you about things on my end, then?"

"Sure."

"Well, Mother's recovery is—"

You hang up.


	26. The Truth

**Flying 3.2: The Truth**  
_Cuicatl Ichtaca_

[00:00:00]

[**HUNGER**]

The Voice crashes into your skull like a cannonball. Everything else, all those tiny little thoughts and feelings and dreams, gets compressed and pressed out, bleeding through every square inch of skin. You hug your legs and arms to your chest and curl your fingers and toes but it still feels like you're a human-shaped sieve.

[Alarm!]

Another Voice, much softer but no less fierce, joins The First. The roar shifts from pure hunger to a mix of desires.

[Refusal]

The denial is ignored. There are other voices around you. Smaller. Filtered through your ears. Irrelevant voices. Voices calling for someone who no longer

"…found…Haina…"

"…name was… "

"…DNA suggests...ancestry…"

"We think…sample of…"

"…dead…cocktail…was there."

"Still alive, yes…"

"…at most his…"

"…all broken...apricorn…no records."

"…real lucky she…"

"…should heal…prenatal damage…"

"…how long…"

"Almost three months."

"…that long while…"

"Yes."

"…take it back…lot more than luck…"

"…BASTARDS!"

"…misunderstanding. Calm down…"

"…told you I was the last…"

"Please…we can…"

"…knock her out…Thank you."

"…think she told…"

"I can reason…or his memories…"

"Thank you…would help."

"She makes some good points. You might want to listen to her."

"…unique circumstances—"

"…not been 'unique circumstances?'"

"...in mind…"

"…not telling anyone, no…"

"Thank you."

"…with the apricorns?"

"Bury them…last time, she'll want to know."

"…best…moves on…"

"…decision to make. Not…"

When you wake up the screaming has stopped. There's just whimpering in its place. From you. Oops. When you stop it continues. Not just you, then.

Where are you? None of your pokémon are touching you and you can't sense Pixie or Coco through your links. You send out a thought to Nocitlālin but don't receive an answer. Bad. Without them you're just… no. You're lying on hard concrete. No, not just concrete. Your head is on something warm and soft. A person? You start to move and they jolt.

"You awake?" Genesis whispers. Ah. Her, then.

You grumble out something that your gift can hopefully translate. She giggles. Guess you need to put more work in. Fifteen years and you're still only figuring out how your brain works. After pressing yourself more or less upright (and discovering how much lying motionless on concrete for gods-know-how-long will hurt your hips), you work out a more coherent question. "Where's Pix?" She was out when you were last awake, right?

"In her ball." You can hear her shift nervously. "Do you remember what happened?"

"We were eating ice cream. There was an explosion? Then a _really_ loud voice. Then… here?"

Judging by her silence and her mind's rapidly shifting attempts to form words, that wasn't the answer she expected. {Can we head-talk?} she asks.

You throw out your awareness again and make absolutely sure that there are no potential eavesdroppers. There's nothing. Almost nothing. You can still feel The Voice's distinct presence, but quiet and far in the background. That's bad, but it's a problem for later. And if there is anything you can do about it, Genesis probably won't be the one to teach you. {Sure.}

{Okay, um, am I doing this right?}

{Yes.}

{A… voice?}

Could she not hear it? Why? Was it psychic? An omen?

{Yes. A Voice. Really, really loud. Tear-your-soul-out-of-your-body loud. I didn't know that was possible.} Well, maybe for a god. Was it a god? If it was a god that would speak to you, but not her, it could explain it. And the gods have taken an active role on Earth in recent years. Tlaloc and Quetzlcoatl had to put Cipactli back to sleep when it stirred under Japan. The Split God, Alice's god(s), clashed in Unova. And Metztli sent an avatar to guard these very islands.

Today (yesterday?) is (was?) Tecpatl-Tecpatl. Ruled by Chalchihuihtotolin and Mictlantecuhtli. The former is a god of sorcery and temptation, the latter the ruler of the dead. Combined they make for a day of life-changing challenges. A chance to soar or plummet, fate be damned. Putting a trial on that day, right before the solstice, was asking for something big to happen.

It didn't. The battle went mostly according to plan. Nothing worthy of the day happened. At least, not when you expected it.

{I didn't hear one.} Gen finally answers. {There was a big noise, probably the explosion you were talking about, and a bunch of wind. Then everything went dark. You collapsed and started talking in Aztec.} Nahuatl. You do your best to keep any annoyed feelings in your own mind. {Pix went nuts so we had to withdraw her. Everyone got moved to a shelter. We're still there. My phone died a while ago. I don't know how long it's been. I'm hungry, but not _really _hungry. Have to pee, though. There is a bathroom but getting to it requires walking over a lot of people in the dark so I'm trying not to. Plus I think Kekoa's asleep, somehow, and I didn't want to leave you alone. Still dark, by the way. Really dark.}

She thinks a lot. Not always coherently. It takes a bit for your power to catch up and put everything into (Nahuatl) words for you. Even though you really should be thinking about the 'everything is dark for everyone else' stuff, you end up thinking about the smaller things. Pee? You don't have to but—well, shit. You definitely pissed yourself while you were out. At least you were expecting your period anyway. Hasn't come yet but it's still (probably) too early to rule it out for the month. And of course you're hungry. That's nothing new. You're _just_ at the border between stomach-rending, painful hunger and greater, painless hunger with lightheadedness and a building headache. Six to eight hours, maybe? But if you were unconscious then it could've been longer.

You'd offer to help her to the bathroom, but you didn't bring your cane with you. Haven't had much need in the last few days, with Nocitlālin eager to help and Pixie jealously competing with her.

"Kekoa awake?" you ask, aloud, so that if he is he'll hear it.

"Someone woke a god up and you think I'd fall asleep?"

That prompts a few whispers around you. "A god?" You'd suspected as much, but he seems to know something you don't.

"Yeah. Like Japan. Feels the same."

His voice breaks on the last word. Feels the same? That could mean a few different things. Maybe it was just a bigger news story in America than Anahuac. Or something more personal.

{You want to talk about it?}

You can feel him steady his thoughts and compose his words. {I was in Hoenn when it happened. My parents died.}

Oh. That's bad. _Really bad._ Living it a second time must be worse.

{I understand,} you say. {I'm sorry.}

{Do you understand, though?} He also hisses aloud, for emphasis.

{Maybe? My brother died a few months ago.}

You aren't crying and even if you did no one can see you. It's the perfect time to talk about this as long as you don't sob.

A lot of thoughts rush through his mind when you tell him. After a few seconds they coalesce into a steady stream of "shit shit shit shit" that he probably doesn't mean to send you.

{I talked shit about your brother in Paniola, didn't I?}

A spike of resentment builds in your heart alongside the sadness. You do your best to push it down but don't succeed entirely. {Yes. You did.}

His thoughts seem to split towards two different statements. You don't look close enough to see what they are.

{I'm sorry,} finally wins out.

{Good.}

A door opens and you can hear someone awkwardly fumbling around. Probably just got out of the bathroom.

{I know that…} Kekoa's message trails off. {I'm sorry. And this is a bad time and it would be weird in a good time but. Can you lean into me?}

"Sure." Cuddles sound nice right now, when you're not crying. Or crying just a little bit. Everything's bad and now isn't the time for that, even if it's dark.

You can sort of hear his breathing, shallow and quick, and the conversation gave you a direction to his head. It takes a bit of fumbling (and you think you kick Genesis at one point) but you finally cuddle up to him. His chest, anyway. You immediately shift so you're leaning on his side. His hand scrapes against you, hesitantly looking for yours. You meet it. His pulse is quick; a quick touch of your free hand to your neck shows that yours is too. Deep breaths.

There's a lot of pain and panic and you aren't sure what to do with any of it right now. You end up focusing on his pulse and trying in vain to meditate.

* * *

The first attack comes about an hour later. It begins with a low whirring sound, slowly but steadily rising in pitch. Like an alarm. Except your power tells you that s_omething _is speaking. What it is and what's being said aren't given to you and when you press you get a sharp headache, the mental equivalent of brushing your hand on a hot stove. An Ultra Beast, perhaps. Or a god. Fearful and confused words pop up in almost all the minds around you, along with a handful of hopeful ones.

Crashing noises sound outside and the noise resets back to a pitch you feel more than hear. It rises again, faster this time. Lightning sounds off. A lot of lightning and more crashing sounds, most crashes coinciding with another pitch reset.

"Xurkitree," Kekoa mutters beside you. It takes a moment for your power to confirm that there's no translation. "I think Sophocles is fighting it. Maybe Molayne."

"They're strong, right?" Genesis asks.

"Yes."

Kekoa still squeezes your hand a little tighter. You squeeze back.

* * *

There's another xurkitree sometime later. A few more battles after that. Water bottles and bags of some sort of strangely-textured chip get passed around at some point.

You eventually realize that the sweat under your arms and the shaking of your hand is because you're scared. Of dying. Even with a free, dignified way out. It's a strange thought. And one you don't have time to process, since you're on a toilet at the time.

Shortly afterwards a large door swings open and someone walks through, the hard steps of their boots conveying authority. A ripple of murmurs say that light is shining through behind the man. "There's light outside," a booming voice says before echoing around the room. "Gather your things; nothing more than you can carry. Meet at the convoy. We leave in a half hour."

The light must not be too bright. There's still chaos as people rush to leave the dusty, slightly metallic air of the shelter. Judging by the room's echoes, you're pretty close to the back. You start stretching, then realize in horror that both your legs are asleep. You rub your hands over them and try to move them as much as possible. By the time you have to get up it's pretty tolerable, actually.

The temperature hits you as soon as you leave the building. The air is cool, but one side of you is warm anyway. Like a fire on a cold night. Kekoa swears under his breath once he gets out behind you. "Reshiram," he whispers.

The Flame Giver. Right here. That definitely explains the light and heat. A god like that…

Alice will never believe you.

You don't know when or how, but at some point you either stop freezing up or get dragged into your room in the Pokémon Center to pack things up. You can hear Genesis and Kekoa struggling, but for you it goes the same as always. Except you need Pix and Coco to check for scattered things by tracking your scent rather than just looking around.

Coco thinks it's a fun game.

You have to withdraw Coco and Pix. The world's chaotic and they're small and easily stepped on in the crowds. Nocitlālin can fly and sense in the dark through electricity or whatever so you have her help Kekoa or Genesis, whoever's struggling more. You take your things and head back out to the convoy before they're ready. Once you're back in Reshiram's heat you drop your pack to the floor. There are curious and cautious whispers around, but no one dares address her. No one knows how.

You step forward closer and raise your head so that you're probably kinda sorta making eye contact. Then you speak in Upper Draconic. "Blessed Flame Giver, I acknowledge your dominion." Dragons do not bow or stoop or avert their gaze when addressing a stronger peer or asking for help. Instead they present everything they are and confess that they need help regardless.

Reshiram shifts in front of you, judging by the changing levels of heat on your face.

"Acknowledged, Little One," she replies. In Upper Draconic. Your power can't or won't translate the god's words. "What would you have me do?"

You swallow and steel yourself again. You weren't actually _expecting _a response. You just thought that she needed acknowledged, per ancient custom.

"I thank you for your protection and guidance."

Thanks are traditionally given at the end of an exchange, when a request is granted or denied and ties are severed. You don't know what else to say. Requesting _anything _from Reshiram feels wrong. She is not your kind's god and you have nothing to offer her. It would also feel weird to ask her to do something she already seems to have made up her mind to do.

She chuffs. It sounds like a cross between laughter and an indignant huff. It's also nothing that you've heard from a dragon before. Although Coco sometimes does something almost like it. "It was my duty as a goddess. Nothing more. Now, tell me: where did you learn to speak the old tongue?"

"I was taught by Alice, Dorothy, and Ilsa. A twice-split spirit from the Valley of Dragons." You pause and she does not answer. "She," for there is no good Upper Draconic equivalent to ellas, "was a companion of my mother's and swore herself to be my protector and teacher."

That earns a low rumble from the goddess. Consideration. "Is she here?"

You shake your head. "No." Your voice breaks and you immediately clamp your mouth shut. You will not cry in front of a goddess. You will not cry in front of a goddess. You will not cry

The heat picks up. It's still more warm than hot. Comforting and not burning. "Acknowledged." The bark is a little shorter and softer than you would have expected. "It is rare for royalty to bond with a twice-split spirit. Your gifts are rendered useless by the shadows in their blood."

"I'm not royalty," you correct(?!) the goddess(?!). At least, that's not something that your mother chose to tell you via either Renfield or Alice or passed down memories. And you've seen how Mom grew up. Comfortable at times, but never much more.

Another rumble of consideration. "Correct. You are not royalty. Whatever my _counterpart_'s chosen companion has declared, your line's claim to the throne ended with the throne itself. But you have The Harbor Queen's Gift and the mark of her bloodline."

You'd privately doubted you were tied to N. He was _important_. Chosen by a god. And if your mother had any brothers or nephews, she never passed it down. You don't even think she had any cousins. But if you're more distantly related…

"There was a time not so long ago," Reshiram muses, "that I believed your lineage to be extinct. It only survived through fortune. Centuries ago, a king found the strength to do what needed to be done. Nonetheless, he was a sentimental fool who could not live with himself afterwards. Another part of me, for we were one then, found it noble." She growls. An actual, hostile growl. The fire roars up with her and you can hear swearing around you. You flinch back and avert your gaze, ancient rules forgotten. "Sometimes I am glad to be free of such foolishness now. But I was weaker then. I granted his request to leave the kingdom behind and live out his final days in exile on the other side of the Earth." The heat dies back down to a low burn. "He was an old, broken man. It never occurred to me that he would beget more children."

Footsteps approach. "Reshiram, it's almost time to depart," a female voice (Hilda?) says.

The pavement audibly groans as the goddess stretches. "I have duties to fulfill. We shall finish our conversation at a later time."

You step back in silence and someone grabs hold of you. "What the fuck," Kekoa hisses in your ear, "was that about?"

"I was in her territory. I acknowledged her."

"Isn't she from Unova?"

"She's a goddess: everything is her territory."

He grunts, probably out of arguments. You pick up your surprisingly warm pack and follow Kekoa's lead to the convoy.

"Excuse me, miss," someone says. "No pokémon allowed in the vehicle." Pokémon, but… Right. You reach down and withdraw Nocitlālin. She's very well behaved when she isn't trying to watch people pee, but you don't want to argue about it now.

You end up sandwiched between Kekoa and Genesis with very little room to yourself. Which is fine, mostly. You don't take up that much space. And you're more than used to getting crowded out in the tent.

Most of the ride passes in silence beyond the tires on the road and Reshiram's wingbeats above. It's only about halfway in when the convoy grinds to a stop as Reshiram roars. You can feel the flames through the walls of the car. There's some radio chatter, but it's garbled and without your gift your English is only okay. There are only a few things you remember: The goddess's roars. Her opponent's begging (Home, home, home, home, I want to go home!), every word accompanied by a sharp pain in your temples. And of course you remember the sound of the explosion that marked the battle's inevitable end. Whatever it was, it chose to fight a goddess. A _dragon _goddess. Its fate was sealed the second it got too close for comfort.

When the convoy moves again, you realize that Kekoa's back to gripping your hand. Even though it's probably light out. You squeeze his hand back but he doesn't let go. That's fine with you.

The rest of the trip is uneventful.

* * *

You end up being one of the last ones out of the convoy. Most of the crowds have already cleared judging by the relative silence. That at least makes it easier to follow the noises of people flowing to wherever it is you're supposed to go.

Something giant crashes down behind you before you can figure that out, bathing your back in heat. You probably jumped at least a half meter into the air. In spite of everything, you do your best to steady yourself before turning around to face the goddess. "Hello. I was..." You're not sure what you wanted to say at the start of the sentence.

"Did you think we would not speak again?" She growls. "I am truth incarnate. My promises are prophecies."

You swallow down the fear and shake your head. A human negation. Should've done the dragon one. Doesn't matter, keep moving. "I meant no offense, Flame Giver."

She chuffs and her heat dies down. "I understand. I, too, was concerned that our meeting would be delayed. But my companion needs rest and I shall oblige her."

You finally calm down enough to realize that the air smells heavily of blood. Dragon blood. You don't say anything. A goddess bled for you. That's not right. It's supposed to be the other way around.

"Now, then," Reshiram continues, "it has been some time since I spoke to a human in my own tongue. Or at least something akin to it. Your pronunciation is terrible and your pitch is that of a newborn."

Oh. You should have expected that. Known that. Why did you talk to her in the first place?

"But I suppose it is the best a human can do. Tell me, Daughter of the Harbor Queen, what are your ambitions?"

Ambitions? Like N? You've never really had any. You don't want to say that outright. She's spoken of duties before. Maybe...

"I seek to reclaim what was stolen from me. Then I will return home and fulfill my obligations there. I'm not the kind of person who should change society. I wouldn't know what to do with it and there are much smarter people." Priests, kings, scholars, warriors. Heroes. "I'm not a hero."

Reshiram makes a particular bark. One of praise. Not praise of an equal, but that of a mother congratulating her daughter on killing a rodent for the first time. "You may be wiser than you know. Those who are _certain_ that they _must_ change the world often bring it to ruin. A few generations later another will rise, _certain _that they _must_ undo what their forefathers shed blood to change. Dragons do not make these mistakes. We know our ancient roles and fulfill them. There are no grand attempts to upset the balance of nature. No wars of conquest or revolution. But humans always want more than they have. They will kill themselves and others for fictitious honors, a yard of barren dirt, and gold they will never spend. Every day they fall farther and farther from their rightful place.

"Survive and reclaim that which is rightly yours. Find a role in society and fill it well. That is heroic enough."

No response comes to mind. You're not sure you'd give it even if you could. Her words carry an air of finality, that there is nothing left to be said on the subject.

"I believe your companions need to speak with you. Go forth, Little One. Heed my words and you shall have my blessing." She rockets off into the air before you can thank her or wish her well or find anything at all to say.

"You really do speak dragon, huh?" Kekoa remarks behind you.

"She said I'm not very good at it."

"In dragon. And you understood it."

"We need to talk," Genesis says quickly and quietly. Kekoa sighs.

"Yeah, we do."

Everyone is silent for a while, waiting on Genesis to speak again.

"My dad called. I'm going home. Now. There's a teleporter here. I don't think we'll be able to speak again, but I will miss you. A lot. And," she shoves a stack of bills down into your palm. (How? Is Reshiram still around? Did she get lucky? All the questions that don't matter come to mind.) "This is some money that my brother gave me. It should help." Her voice is unusually strained, quiet, and detached. Like she rehearsed this for once but doesn't quite want to go through.

"Okay… but you don't sound happy?" Which is strange. You thought that she really wanted to go back.

"I am. Really. Just, a lot just happened and there's a conversation I'm not looking forward to and I haven't had much time to prepare."

"You shouldn't go," Kekoa says, voice firm and almost angry. Why? This is everything he wanted. Even if he's calmed down a little in the last two weeks, he still clearly doesn't like her. "Your parents aren't good people, Gen. Nothing good comes from going back."

"Kekoa," Genesis says in an uncharacteristically hostile tone. She sighs and the anger breaks to dejected acceptance. "You don't know them."

"They kicked their daughter to the curb. I know enough about them." He's getting angry. That's bad for him. If this turns into a shouting match, Genesis will feel attacked and he will lose. You don't tell him this. If she wants to go to her parents in spite of everything, you understand. And Reshiram's words about roles and duties loom large in your mind.

"They just made a mistake. Thought I did something I didn't and were worried I'd corrupt my brother.

Kekoa actually snorts. "You? _Corrupt_ someone? Either they don't know you at all, or that's not why they did it. And if they have realized, nevermind, guess Jenny was good all along, why wouldn't they let you talk to us?"

"Because you might corrupt me," she says, exasperated, like this should _really_ be obvious. You don't think you've been corrupting, though? You asked her to stop being rude to Kekoa. And made her eat some gross shit once. That was pretty much it. And she _deserved _that potato salad.

"Really? What's Cuicatl Ichtaca done?"

Drat. You were really hoping to stay out of this. So many people leaving in the last year, so few chances for decent goodbyes. And he's dragging this one through the mud for gods-know-why.

"She's in a human sacrifice cult." She whisper-hisses it like you won't hear it. Even though she probably also thinks you have super hearing.

You've only killed one person and you really, really didn't mean to. That's not the right answer, though. "We don't convert," you finally say. Because Kekoa dragged you into this and it would be awkward if you said nothing at all. "You can believe what you wish." You don't even sacrifice people without their permission anymore. Even American war criminals were declared off-limits in The False Tlatoani's Peace.

"And if you want to talk cults," Kekoa interjects, "only one of us seems to be obsessed with being perfect all the time. What happens when you slip up? Or your parents make another mistake? You'll just end up back here, but with no friends."

She doesn't answer. Instead, Genesis wraps you in a really tight hug for a few seconds and walks away. Another pair of footsteps follows her. Before you can tell Kekoa off, you hear him huff beside you. "Dammit, why didn't you back me up?"

"She has a duty to her family."

He stamps a foot and starts pacing. "No! Fuck no! She doesn't owe them shit. Just." You can practically hear the scream on the tip of his tongue. "Damn it."

You silently slip the money into your purse, release Nocitlālin and extend your cane. "Why do you care, anyway?"

"Because…" He sighs. "I don't like her. At all. But she wasn't supposed to do this. It's bad. For her." The inflection and wording are wrong. He's worried, but you don't think it's for her. The loss of income? Her team was cheap to feed and she did bring in money from capture missions when she didn't keep the target herself. That does sound about right. Genesis was annoying to him, but being one-third poorer is worse. With another bout of swearing, Kekoa finally stops pacing.

"Come on. Let's get to the shelter. I need to charge my phone."

The Malie Center is overcrowded but you don't dare leave it. Pixie and Coco are in their balls full time for the foreseeable future. They won't have to eat or drink that way. Won't have to go outside. It's not safe outside.

That doesn't make inside feel like less of a cage. Genesis is gone and Kekoa's bitter, ending conversations with frustrated monosyllabic answers. No chance to really go deeper into what you talked about on the mountain. You're not sure he wants to, though. You're left with your beldum, who is being a very good, warm cuddler tonight. Even letting you wrap an arm around her as you rest. Her questions have stopped, if only because she's gathered that you have no answers to give.

Reshiram.

There were answers there, but more questions were raised. A goddess approves of your plan. Any of the last doubts tingling in the pit of your stomach or the corner of your mouth are gone. You will go home. You will face your father.

You have other family. N. He could be your first cousin or the descendant of your great-great-great-great-great grandparent's sibling. He still exists. Shares your gift. Maybe he will come for you. Maybe he will not. You aren't sure which to hope for. Understanding and family. A link to your mother's world. But also a threat to your visa, _a threat to Alice_, and a reminder of someone you've lost.

Then… there's something you forgot. Or maybe something you never remembered at all. People talking… about… your thoughts slide off it like water on a glass window. Something about The Voice, surely. But what? What could you know? And is it important? Dangerous?

You fall asleep, a warm steel-type pressed against you, before you come up with any answers.


	27. Lies and Lyra

**Flying 3.3: Lies and Lyra  
**_Genesis_

* * *

"Excuse me, Genesis."

Your eyes flick away from Reshiram—Reshiram!—to see the man behind you. There's a human-like pokémon with yellow stripes beside him. Wait. "We met in Heahea, right?"

He nods. "We did."

"You been following her?" Kekoa asks/growls.

"For her own safety." You swear he's glaring at Kekoa but can't quite tell in in the dim light. "After all, you never know who might set their sights on someone like her."

"Never saw you," Kekoa adds, more defensive than anything.

"Of course you didn't. I didn't want to be seen." His attention shifts back to you. "Come with me. Your father wants to speak with you."

Father.

Cuicatl's still growling back and forth with Reshiram. When you start walking away, Kekoa following with a huff, she doesn't even notice. Once you're far enough from everyone else that the electabuzz's light can't reach them, the man hands you a phone. Oh. For a second you thought that he was _here_, but this makes a lot more sense. Kekoa tries to step closer, but he's held back. Gently, but the message gets across loud and clear. Even to you.

There's already a call started. No time to prepare. You raise the phone to your ear and cough. "Hello?"

"Hello, Genesis. Are you hurt?"

His question makes you smile; he_ does_ still care about you.

"I am not. Are you?"

"Good to hear. I am also unharmed. Security has only encountered one of the monsters here, and it was quickly dispatched. Which brings me to the reason for this call: it is time for you to come home. The world has become far too dangerous for you to be unprotected."

"But you've sent protection, haven't you?" He did. He was watching after you the entire time. Because he cares.

"Hector was the one who requested you be brought back to a more defensible location."

"Okay." You're going home. It's still a shock to hear, even after months of waiting and praying for it. Sure, it took the sun going out—but you're going home! "I'll come."

"Excellent. I have a teleporter ready to bring you over. We will continue this conversation once you arrive."

He hangs up. Teleporter? That's—you were expecting a boat. You had a whole speech planned out for when you got back, but now it's slipping out of reach as you try to find it. No time to prepare, everything on the line and—and you have to say goodbye, now. To Cuicatl. Someone who had always been nice to you. Well, almost always. But you usually deserved it when she wasn't. And there's no way at all that Mother ever lets you speak to her again.

You take a deep breath and turn back towards Reshiram. This is it. Your last impression with her. Better not screw it up.

* * *

You screwed it up. No, _Kekoa _screwed it all up. Cuicatl even tried to help you! Wasn't even mad you called the death cult she's in a death cult. Uggggggh. She hates you now, doesn't she? And you'll never get a chance to correct it. That was all you were trying to avoid.

You barely have time to finish reflecting on that conversation by the time the teleporter's alakazam makes the entire world stretch and stretch until there's nothing but lines around you. The alakazam leaps away just as soon as the world starts to settle around you.

You're home. It's hard to see the edges of the room in the dark but the floor is familiar and _you're home! _After the first footstep echoes around the parlor you remember that you're wearing ragged hiking boots and shamefully slip them off. Fine. You'll face your parents in socks. Maybe they won't even notice.

It's just two trips around the staircase to the second floor. To Father's office. Hector and his pokémon stay at the bottom with your bag. More light, brighter than the electabuzz's, flows down from the top.

A vikavolt's light. The bug—you never learned the vikavolts' names since they were usually at work with the spiders—floats behind you and gently presses you closer to the door. No one opens it when you approach, so with shaky hands you press down the handle and step inside.

The vikavolt stays behind, but there's still light and a great deal of heat in the room itself. Red is lying down in her bed when you enter. That doesn't last long, as the pyroar ambles over to you and sniffs you over. Then she nuzzles your shoulder. You used to be scared of the big cat, but now you're just happy she's here because it means _you're home_. For a moment you ignore the other people in the room and hug her back, giving her a scratch on the chin. But it doesn't last. Eventually Red walks back to her bed and you have to turn and face reality. Father is smiling, either at you or at his longtime pet. Your mother is not, legs and arms crossed and almost glaring at you.

Not good. Not good at all.

"You're back," she says after what feels like an hour of silent appraisal. "But have you changed?"

Fragments of what you wanted to say come back. You're sorry. Time alone made you realize—what did it make you realize? She keeps staring at you in the dim light and you have to move on without figuring it out.

"A lot. I cared for my own pokémon. Saw the world in a different way. I've been away from—" do you say her name or not ahhhhhhh— "her for a few months and got away from her influence. I made new friends—"

"The pagan and the transsexual, yes?"

"I—I was trying to teach them."

There's fire in her eyes that can't be blamed on the pyroar's light. "'Trying,' were you? Tell me, were _they_ also trying to convert _you_?"

"Cuicatl said—"

"Because from where I'm sitting, I see a different explanation." You turn to your father but his eyes are locked on his pet. He can't see your pleading. "What happened on the roof—"

"_She _kissed _me!_"

She cuts you off, again, with a wave of her hand. "So you said before. Does it matter, though? Something awoke within you. We cast you out and away from it and what do you do? You find another deviant to latch onto. Rather than fight the demons you seek out and _embrace_ them, time and time again."

It's all too much. The loathing in her voice when she talks about your friends, the accusations, dad looking away… you want to yell but that would be childish and you want her to take you seriously so you can stay.

"Tell me, Genesis," she practically purrs with hate right beneath the surface. "Can you look me in the eyes and tell me _that girl _never tempted you?"

"Of course she didn't."

Mother leans back into her chair, a very self-satisfied smile on her face.

"Genesis Elizabeth Gage, you have always been a terrible liar."

Six Years Ago

The library door swings open and you look up from your homework. Stefan is standing in the doorway with an Asian child about your age beside him. Her eyes briefly settle on you before immediately flitting away to look at the rest of the room. Like you're the least interesting thing in it. "You have a visitor, Miss Gage."

The girl finally, almost begrudgingly turns back towards you and walks forward. You stand up, rubbing some of the wrinkles out of your skirt, and extend a hand. "Hi. Who are you?" There's a sharp cough in the corner and it takes all your willpower not to look at Agnes. "Hello. It is a pleasure to make your ack-wain-tens." That word took you _forever _to get right. "My name is Genesis. What is yours?" You correct yourself, a little stiffer than you have to be out of spite. Agnes doesn't disapprove, but that might have counted as 'sass' and earn you another manners lesson tonight.

Stefan breaks in before the girl can respond. "Oh, Agnes, you're free to go for the day. Sarah and I will watch the children." The old woman huffs (she mostly speaks in huffs, tuts, and scoldings) and gathers her things. The girl glances between you and Agnes with a sly smile that grows much wider once the only adults are behind her.

"I'm Lyra," she finally says when the door is shut. "Or Kotone if you want to call me that. That was my name back home. But a new country means a new name. That's what dad says."

"Oh? So you're from…?"

"Japan."

Japan. Mother told you about that place recently. They don't worship Xerneas there, so he couldn't stop it when Yveltal sent monsters. A city was destroyed. A lot of people died. Now they're all in a cocoon. That is why you believe in Xerneas. He can protect you. But if Mother let you speak to Lyra then she also believes and already knows all of that. You can ask about other stuff. "Your English sounds good."

Lyra shrugs. You wince at the thought of Agnes seeing you do that. "I had someone to teach me."

"Cool." Like your Kalosian lessons. It's one of your best subjects. You even managed to mostly speak in it when Father took you to Kalos last year. "What do you like to do? When you're not seeing the world?"

"Be outside." At some point her eyes had started wandering the room again. They snap back to you all at once. "Want to go out? It's Winter in Japan, but it's warm here. I want to enjoy it."

You glance at Stefan, still standing by the doorway, and he nods back. "Okay. There's a playground outside."

There is. You don't use it much. Not anymore. Exodus…left…and your parents don't like letting you do anything with Levi where he could get hurt. Even though you're _nothing_ like your sister.

When Lyra first sees the playground her eyes widen and she just stands still and looks at it for long enough that you start fidgeting. "This is all yours?"

"My brother uses it sometimes."

She shakes her head and finally looks away from it and back to you. With a quick flick of her wrist her finger presses into your heart. "Tag. You're it."

Lyra races off and it takes a moment for your thoughts to catch up with the present. Okay. You're not really dressed for this. She isn't either, but at least she has more comfortable shoes on. It's fine, though; you can still play for a bit.

You chase her up the stairs and onto the bridge, up the spire, down the pole, turn around real fast (and almost wipe out), catch your balance and go to the second set, up the stairs when she decides to crawl up a slide—wait, she just ran back out the bottom of the slide—down the slide, towards the—your shoes catch on the ground and you fall flat on your face. Little flashes of pain shoot up your arms and legs. Your knee is sore where it hit the ground and you can imagine the pattern of woodchips plastered on it.

It's fine. All fine. Nothing too bad. You press yourself up on your hands and sit down properly. Sarah's running over with her comfey draped over her shoulder. It takes Lyra a bit to notice you aren't following, but she starts jogging back when she does. The comfey wraps herself around your arm and you can feel the healing pouring into you. Sarah does a quick check on everything before standing up and starting to walk away. Comfey stays for a little bit as your cuts stop bleeding, become thin red lines, and then disappear altogether. Even the pains from your too-tight saddle shoes fade away.

Lyra plops down beside you right as the comfey starts to fly back after her trainer. "They really keep an eye on you, huh?"

"Yeah. They want to make sure I'm safe."

She doesn't look like she agrees. "I hate it. Haven't been living with dad long but he always, always, _always_ has someone watching me. Can't do anything without him finding out. Have you always lived like that?"

"Yes, but it keeps me safe. There are bad people out there."

Lyra scoffs. "I know. Still hate it."

She glares at the merry-go-round like it's responsible for everything and for once you know what to do.

You poke a finger into her heart, smile, and run away.

* * *

"HEY!" You're jolted out of your thoughts by someone yelling very loudly very close to you. Lyra. In what you're pretty sure is the uniform of the school down the street. "You really don't pay attention when you run."

You flush in embarrassment and look away. "I was thinking."

"What were you thinking about?"

There's a book series about a group of knights. There are _a lot _of books and there's sort of a bigger plot but mostly it's just kids a little older than you hanging out with other kids and fighting bad guys with swords, bows, and pokémon. When you run around the track you get lost in that world, sort of, except you're in it and have friends, a white rapidash, and a sword made of pure crystal. The sword also—doesn't matter. The point is that you won't tell anyone any of it. Ever. It's not real. It doesn't matter to them.

"Stuff."

Lyra stares at you like you said something wrong. And maybe you did. Eventually she nods. "I did not see you at school today."

"I don't go. Agnes teaches me here."

There is a local school run by priests of Xerneas but Mother has some disagreement or another with them that she's never really explained. Or maybe she has and you just didn't understand. That happens a lot with her explanations.

Now Lyra's really looking at you funny. "Is that common here? It was not in Japan."

"It's not _common_, but it might be someday. More and more people are doing it." Mother is working to ensure that. She's often in Hau'oli or even on the mainland trying to get the government to make it easier.

"Are you not lonely, though?"

"I mean…" Yeah. Very. Sort of. You have your brother. And your parents. And Stefan, Sarah, Agnes… There are people around you almost all the time. And also Lucy. That's enough.

Lyra grabs your hand. "Let me get changed. Then we can play." She seems very determined. You aren't sure about what.

* * *

At first Lyra just uses you for the playground out back. Sometimes she'll talk about school, but never for long. Later she starts coming inside, usually for snacks. Then she starts talking about whatever's on her mind (snakes, cartoons, something or other that another friend told her) and listens when you say stuff that probably isn't as interesting. Eventually you just expect her to show up almost every day at the four on the dot and sometimes she doesn't leave until it's dark. Lyra shrugs it off whenever you ask: "I just like being here."

Four Years Ago

"Do you want to marry me?"

You almost faceplant onto the bridge but you catch yourself just in time. Lyra's right in front of you. Was that a plan to throw you off so she could win? You _almost_ had her. But she doesn't start running again and just shrugs it off when you poke her (on the shoulder, not the heart, because Mother says you can't do that anymore).

"What?"

"A bunch of kids are getting married at recess. A boy asked me today and I told him I was already married. It was a lie, but we could maybe make it not a lie?"

"No."

Her expression immediately falls. "Why not?"

"Because we're both girls. Duh."

She has her 'you're-wrong-and-I-want-to-say-it-but-probably-won't' look on.

"I mean, you're nice. If you were a boy, yes. But you're not, so…"

"Ah."

And that's the end of that.

Three Years Ago

Mother says you can go to school! On your first day Lyra comes over early and you help each other tidy up and make sure the uniforms are on right before you get in the car and ride over together.

Not ten steps in the door Lyra's flagged over by some girls you don't recognize and they start talking with only a quick introduction for you. Their discussion moves quickly with lots of gestures, hugs, and words you can barely make out over the dull roar of the children around you. But you aren't a part of it. You aren't wanted here. That's fine. You knew she had other friends. Betrayal weighing heavy on your heart, you slip off into the crowd.

* * *

Lyra finds you again at lunch.

"Where have you been?" She slams her tray down onto the table and stares at you, lips drawn back in a snarl.

"In class."

"Not what I meant and you know it."

She's angry at you. You've seen her angry before but you've never been scared of her. Until now.

"You were talking to your friends and…" You sigh and look down, away from Lyra's ferocious eyes. "They're your friends. Not mine. I didn't want to get in the way."

Lyra huffs and half-laughs half-cries. "That it? Then get up. You're coming to my table and I'm making them your friends."

She tries. She really does. And you start to learn things about them and they learn some things about you. Three come over to your house in October, but Mother keeps two from coming back (one was a liar, the other too masculine) and the third stays away on principle. They let you keep sitting at the table (it's not your fault your mom's crazy, they explain, until you start to argue that, no, she isn't, and one politely changes the topic). There are always jokes you don't get and there's a wall between them and you but it's nice to have other people to talk to. And Lyra's always there, glancing at you from time to time and making sure that you aren't too far out of the loop.

Two Years Ago

Lyra storms into the library, all but slamming the door behind her. Stefan looks up and starts some snide rebuke or another before the young girl silences him with a vicious glare. "Gen, can we go somewhere private?" She says it like it is not a question.

"Of course." You smooth your skirt and walk out of the library with her, taking a left to the staircase, up two flights of stairs, and down to the third door to the right. You hesitate before opening it. She seems really out of it and if she wanted something private… you brace yourself and open the door to your room. Fluffy looks up and chitters for a moment before going back to sleep on her web, strung up in the corner between four posts.

Lyra shuts the door, gently, behind you and looks at the room with the same curious gaze she had when you first met her. "So this is your bedroom, huh?"

"Yup."

"Thought you'd never show me."

You don't respond, instead walking over to your bed and sitting down on the edge. Lyra casts a wary look at Fluffy before following and sitting beside you. And it's true. You don't like her here. This is your space. _Yours. _You make your own bed and do most of the chores just so fewer people come in. Having anyone in here feels invasive. Even if it's Lyra.

It's a boring room, anyway, since you barely spend time here. A few toys for Fluffy. A plush pyroar (much less scary than the real thing). Plain blue wallpaper. A diary on the desk you stopped writing in years ago. Mother pretended she could read your mind and kept catching and punishing you for stuff you were pretty sure happened in the rare moments while no one was watching; you only figured out how she was doing it when you made up a little sin you didn't actually do and wrote it down. Sure enough, you were locked in the library for four hours of silent reflection over something that didn't happen. She was upset when you stopped writing and keeps having a new diary put back on the desk whenever you hide or throw out the old one.

The diary sends you off into a thought hole that doesn't matter; Lyra is upset now and _she_ matters, not a stupid book.

"Guess I should tell you what's going on, right?" She sounds resigned, like she'd really rather not. But why would she want privacy if she didn't want to tell you?

"If you want. You don't have to."

"My idiot big brother is going back to Japan."

"I… I've heard that parts of it have recovered?" You aren't sure why this is bad as she makes it sound. She barely even talks about Ethan.

She shakes her head, sending waves through her long black hair. She must notice, too, because she tucks some behind her shoulder before turning to look at you. "Gen, how did my dad make his money?"

"Music? Or television?" You _think _it was music but you sort of remember her talking about being on set for a show filming once and you aren't sure if that was through her dad's work or not.

"Yeah. Officially. And maybe for real some of the time. But in Japan all the big businesses compete in the market _and _in the shadows." She makes a point of looking directly into your eyes. "He worked for the Rockets and he was damn good at it."

You flinch at the casual swear and take a moment for that to fully sink in. Her father… he seemed nice enough. A little strict. You had mistaken him for a security guard at first with the way he held himself. But you'd never thought he was _a bad person_. "I think he's still in it," she mutters. "Just a little bit. Makes sure that spider silk keeps flowing. Another company, _another gang_, makes it back home."

That was too far. "Father doesn't sell to criminals." You meet her gaze with a glare of your own, doing your best to keep it up when her brown eyes soften considerably and she looks… sad? You suddenly feel stupid and maybe mean and decide that it's time to inspect your socks.

"He sells to war criminals. Really, the yakuza are tame compared to his other clients."

"I…"

She waves a hand—wait when did she start wearing nail polish?—and cuts off your thoughts. "My brother and I didn't meet him until I was eight and Ethan was ten. Before that he was just the guy who left Mom and sometimes paid for stuff make up for it. Then he came back and Hibiki—I mean Ethan. No, screw it—Hibiki figured out what our Dad did pretty quick. And he took it _hard_. We'd both always liked pokémon since grandma was a breeder. Talked about going on journeys and all that. And in Japan that all leads back to _Red,_" she says the word with a strange mix of awe and disdain. Like he wasn't just garbage, he was the Mt. Everest of garbage. "Some kid beat the Rocket Gang's leader so bad he stepped down in disgrace. Then the Rocket Gang's rival companies made TV shows, video games, and everything else they could to rub it in. Made the kid a saint in the process."

"The guy with the pikachu?"

"Yeah, the guy with the pikachu." If she's impressed you've heard of him she doesn't let it show before she plows on. "Hibiki practically worshipped Red. The night he found out what dad did he completely lost it in our room. Went on about how he had to redeem his family." Lyra sighs. "Total drama queen. And now he's going to go home and fight the Rocket Gang until they kill him."

A lot of ideas whir through your mind but they range from stupid to rude. And most of them come back to one phrase: "I don't know how to help you."

Lyra abruptly leans over and wraps her arms around you in a big, tight hug. Out of all the things you should be focusing on, you end up thinking about how nice her blukberry-scented shampoo smells.

* * *

A few months later she comes to school with the gloom that had settled over her replaced by bright, shining happiness. The new semester had moved you to a different lunch period than hers so you don't get a chance to ask her in relative privacy until Emile drives you both to your home. She stays quiet but clearly excited between her almost-too-wide grin and her foot bouncing off the bottom of the car, replaced by almost skipping-steps as you move out back to the former playground.

When you're both sitting down on one of the benches alongside the tennis court, Lyra finally breaks her silence. "My brother got arrested."

"What?" And since when is that a good thing.

"Yup. Turns out it's illegal to attack people and break their stuff, even if they're also criminals. The cartoons lied."

"But he's in jail and that's bad?" You're pretty darn sure it is, anyway.

"For now. But Dad thinks he can get him home with a slap on the wrist and a promise to not come back for a few years. Win-win there. He'll be safe back home and can't return to risk his life."

Oh. That's why. Now you get it. "I'm happy for you." Lyra smiles and gives you a quick side hug before pulling back up. She seems to sink down into the bench as her legs sprawl out further in front of her.

"And now I can finally think about my own journey without worrying about his." Right. Her journey. She'd talked about it a lot with you at first but then she must have realized that you didn't know what she was talking about so she moved onto discussing it with other friends. But you should care about the stuff she likes. Or at least pretend you do.

"Have you decided what pokémon you want?"

Her smile somehow grows wider. It almost hurts your lips just to look at it. "Well, I want to be able to explore places so I need pokémon that can help with that. And a fire-water-grass core is sort of tradition. The fire-type is salazzle, of course, because I like their mating dance." She winks at you and you get the feeling that there's a joke you were supposed to get but didn't. Her smile thins a bit, but she doesn't try to explain it. "As a kid I wanted a tangrowth since their vines could help me cross gaps and climb places, but you don't have those here and I haven't thought of a good replacement yet. Then lapras is obviously the go-to water-type for crossing oceans and lakes and rivers and stuff. But I _might_ go with pyukumuku instead."

"Pyukumuku? You know my dad pays people _to get rid of_ those? Why would you want to own one?"

"Well, they're super easy to care for and that's good since some of my other pokémon might not be. Plus, most people underestimate them and they can be really tricky to fight."

"I see." You really don't—why on earth would she pick the ball of slime over a gorgeous milotic, lapras, or primarina?

"Yup. Then something for deserts, something for the tundra, and a bird to fly on. Or maybe flygon for both the deserts and the flying…"

You don't really understand half of what comes next. Something about a sled race that someone won with a sandslash, which apparently don't live in sand at all. And there's a lake in Japan that supposedly leads to another world entirely but only three people have gone, only two came back, and only one ever talks about it.

There are a few opportunities to ask a question that sounds like a good one or interject with something you'd heard somewhere but mostly you just let her talk. Lyra's happy again. You hadn't fully realized just how much you had missed that.

* * *

"You're going to homecoming, right?"

Lyra leans onto the locker next to you and looks at you expectantly.

"Wasn't planning on it. Dances are…" full of bright lights and loud music and crowds of bodies and the smell of sweat and other terrible stuff. Helping out with prom as part of student council terrified you into swearing off dances, and student council, forever. "Not my thing. But are you going?"

"I don't have a date, no." Her smile turns almost predatory. Was that the wrong question? Should you apologize. "But there's nothing stopping us from going. As friends."

"Um."

"Janet," the blonde from the lunch table (right?), "just found out that she'll be on the mainland that weekend, so she gave her ticket to me."

"I—"

"Please. For me?"

She looks terribly anxious and she _just_ got happy and her hair looks very cute today and you just can't find it in yourself to say no.

* * *

You should have said no.

The night starts well enough. Lyra comes over to your place wearing a black knee-length dress and black opera gloves. The dress is silk and clearly fitted for her and it looks really good, but the gloves mean that there's more fabric on her arms than her legs and it's unbalanced and you can't even imagine wearing that without immediately taking the gloves off. The dark fabric makes her look elegant enough that you can almost forget it, though.

Just after the car drives off Lyra notices something wrong with your hair, which is annoying because you spent _so long_ sitting still and getting it styled earlier, so she steps over and fixes it. She's surprisingly slow and has to get a lot closer to you than you would've expected. It isn't unpleasant, though. She smells good and it at least takes your mind off the heart rate spike you're experiencing as you get closer to the dance, even if it somehow makes your heart go even faster.

The dance is almost as bad as you remember it being. Less people seem to want to actually dance so there's less sweat in the air. And if they aren't dancing then they're talking and the DJ has to turn up the music to be heard over the talking and then people have to talk louder to be heard over the music and there are dozens or maybe hundreds of conversations going on and your mind keeps grasping onto snippets of all of them and it's too much to handle and you'd really rather be outside. But Lyra's here and she's _happy_ and seeing her happy makes you happy enough that your face gets hot so you'll stay. Lyra looks at you occasionally or nudges your elbow and asks if you're fine and you lie and say you are and she hesitantly accepts it every time. Once in a while the conversation between her and her friends turns to something you actually know about and you talk too much until you get embarrassed and just stop talking for a while.

After what feels like days but may have been minutes a song plays that you know how to dance to. Lyra went to those lessons with you and she must remember because she grabs your wrist and moves her eyes to the dance floor. "It's a guy-girl dance," you mutter-shout.

"You're tall. We can make it work."

And you do. It's surprisingly easy to tone everything out while the song is on and just focus on your movements and Lyra's. But the song ends, and a loud, fast pop song takes its place and the moment is over.

* * *

You try, you really do, but eventually everything is too much and you have to step out of the room to breathe. Lyra follows, looking equal parts guilty and concerned. She glances down at your hand, seeing it twitching and folding in on itself as it desperately wants something to fidget with even though you kicked that bad habit years ago.

"I messed up, didn't I?"

"No." You agreed to it. You freaked out. It isn't her fault at all.

She takes a deep, dramatic sigh. "You don't hate me, right?"

Of course you don't. She's closer to you than anyone is. Practically family.

"You know I love you, Lyra."

She brightens up like her brother got arrested five times.

September 2019

As of late your concentration has been even worse than usual. You've even caught yourself fidgeting with a coin a few times, staring off into the distance for minutes on end. It's gotten bad enough that someone told Father and he talked to you for a few minutes before you convinced him that everything was fine and he could go back to his work. Levi, bless him, has done his best to cheer you up but it's nothing he can do anything about, nothing that you'd _want _him to do anything about, and he gets the hint.

Lyra's leaving soon. You don't know how long she'll be gone. Maybe for a long time. She does want to explore, after all, so there's no reason for her to stop after she beats the island challenge. And she says she'd be happy if she never went home again.

You've met her starter, an adorable little salamander that feels unnaturally warm like a pyroar. Helen took a few minutes to climb all over you before deciding that you were a good perch to hang on. She tried to rest on your head a few times before you made her stop, well, made Lyra make her stop. You really don't want your hair to get burned off.

The day Lyra leaves gets closer and closer and closer until it's finally here.

"I've never been up on your roof," she asks without asking.

So you take her up there because it's her last day and you aren't denying her last request. The door is unlocked. You don't know if you should be surprised since you've never even tried to open it before. On the roof you're hit with the smell of salty air and the sounds of wingull down on the beach. The ocean stretches out almost to the horizon, only broken by the faint silhouette of Lanakila in the distance.

It's a good view. Maybe you should've come here before. Lyra seems to think the same, leaning on the railing and letting the wind run through her hair without a care in the world. She's wearing the same outfit she wore to the dance. It'll make it easier to remember how she looks forever, even if she never comes back.

You walk over to the railing and stand by her in silence. You should say something. Time is running out fast and while she can text you on the trail she'll have bigger things to worry about and new friends you'll never meet. Someday she might forget to stop texting altogether.

"I guess you're never going to make a move, are you?" Lyra finally asks.

"What?" What is she talking about? Move on wha—

Her lips meet yours and your mind stops working. Then it starts up again going way too fast. You've never been kissed before and it feels good but it shouldn't feel good but it's Lyra and she's pretty and you like it and you're going to burn with Yveltal and no you aren't you hate this hate this hate this but you still don't pull away. Why don't you pull away?

The door swings open. "Girls," Stefan says. "You really shouldn't… be… on… the…"

Lyra steps back and you stumble back from her and Stefan looks more confused than anything before he looks away from you, disappointment replacing the shock. You want to apologize, to beg to him that you didn't mean it, _she _did it, you didn't like it, _please don't tell Mother!_

But you know he will and begging him to deceive her might just make it worse.

Now you can only pray that Mother will be merciful.

* * *

You look into her eyes and see that there is no mercy to be found.

"I swear—"

"That's enough, girls." Father finally speaks, but he still won't look at either of you. "Genesis, Stefan will take you to your room. For the time being, you are not to leave your room. Please spend the time reflecting on your mistakes."

It's not fair. You want to stamp your foot and shout it but it wouldn't change their minds. A better argument might work but all of your ideas melt to nothing under Mother's withering stare. Maybe… Maybe it is fair. You're back. They're keeping you safe. Keeping an eye on you. They're just worried about your soul and when they realize that you're still pure everything will go back to normal.

"What about my pokémon?"

Father waves towards the table. You remove your belt and for a long moment you simply hold it in your hand, unable or unwilling to put it on the table. Putting it down feels like you're throwing the last few months away. Throwing your power away. That _is _what you came here to do but it still feels wrong.

…

Maybe Mother was right. Maybe Lyra and Kekoa did wear you down. Make you rebellious and prideful and sinful to the point where you would defy your own parents in favor of a pagan and a transsexual. Maybe you can't trust yourself with power right now.

You set the belt down on the table and walk towards your room.


	28. Cognitive Test

**Flying 3.3: Cognitive Test**  
_Meredith_

[09:18:40]

It's technically late morning now, but you're bone tired. You're always tired. Standing at the edge of Route 2 in ad hoc ten-hour shifts, paranoid that every non-existent shadow holds an Ultra Beast, didn't help. You weren't even getting paid it. It's "volunteer work" that should look great on grad school apps that can get you off this alien-infested archipelago.

In the meantime you need money to pay rent, utilities , food, student fees, and pokémon upkeep. VStar is at least promising to pay you better than waitressing. Even if you _wanted_ to keep doing that the restaurant's closed until everything goes back to normal. And _apparently_ Congress made it so that businesses don't have to pay unemployment during the apocalypse, but landlords can still charge rent.

The VStar job doesn't look too bad, either. There's a kid who wants a Class Five. You help her do that. She gets one and you get a nice payday. Still pays over minimum wage in the meantime. Sure, you're not exactly thrilled to work for the pokémon capture-and-export trade (and your professors would throw a fit if they knew you were A Bad Person). But it's not even that bad for the island birds since the only one that needs a five isn't even native in the first place. Can't see the harm in it.

Wolsey lights the way beside you, every flap of her wings sending embers scattering behind her. Most fade quickly. There's little risk of lighting fires while walking down an abandoned street in the middle of the rainy season. (This damn island has an entire season of rain.)

The Pokémon Center has guards positioned around it. No uniforms or anything. Just individual trainers like you, pokémon at their sides. Some don't even seem that strong. You ask Wolsey to stay outside and help them for the time being. She's a strong battler and she can cast some light. Also gives her more time out of her ball. She doesn't get to spend much time breathing real air when you're stuck in your apartment night in and night out.

Inkay drift through the air of the lobby. Their light disappears quickly enough, but it still illuminates about a fifth of the room. One floats over to you when you enter. It's weird watching them constrict and expand like they're moving through water. Is that necessary? Psychological? You smile at the inkay once it's close enough to let you see the ground beneath you. A quick glance around the lobby shows the nurse and an obviously male teenager illuminated. Maybe your student isn't here. Or maybe she's an edgelord who rests in darkness.

"Cuicatl Ichtaca?" You do your best to ignore how badly you probably just mangled the name.

"Here," she answers, about ten feet away. The inkay starts 'swimming' in her direction and you follow. Once you can finally see her you can tell why she was sitting in darkness. There's a telltale white cane beside her. When the inkay's a little closer you can see the cataracts in her eyes. She has dark skin and jade hair. Her garishly colored t-shirt has a hydreigon and a one-word slogan on it. Makes her look younger than she probably is.

More interesting are the two pokémon around her. There's a vulpix on her lap, quietly judging you. A beldum floats above her shoulder. Ah. So that's why she wants a five.

You sit down and smile, more for your own sanity than anything. "Hello, Cuicatl…"

"Cuicatl Ichtaca," she says. Slowly and deliberately. So you don't screw up the pronunciation in the future.

Poor kid. You probably will anyway.

"Hi, Cuicatl, I'm Meredith. I'm studying ornithology at U-Alola. VStar set me up to be your teacher?"

She almost certainly already knows all that but you aren't sure where else to start.

"That's bird science?" she asks.

Not what you were anticipating but, sure, you can roll with it. "Yes."

"Oh." She frowns. "I have a tyrunt. Birds are close."

Metagross and a tyrantrum.

Sure, why not? Probably not the right reaction, but, again, you're too tired for fright or concern or whatever.

"So, you got two 'mons with Class V evos without getting the license first?"

"Well," her frown deepens. "The tyrunt was a gift. And once Nocitlālin evolves I'm putting an everstone seal on her ball."

The kid has at least a little sense. That's good. Wouldn't want her to get killed by her own metagross after you went and helped her evolve it. You'd feel guilty for a little bit, even if it was her own damn fault. Not that tyrantrum is _that_ much better. Probably. All you know about their behavior comes from movies.

"I see. And you want the license to keep the tyrunt?"

"Yes." Her mouth stays open a second longer before she snaps it shut. Something else, then. Probably none of your concern.

"Alright. Do you know how the licensing process works?" She shakes her head. "For a Class IV you've got to get me or someone else with a Five to vouch for you, tell the government that you won't do anything _really, dangerously stupid_. You mess up, we both get punished." There are other ways to get a Four as well, but vouching is by far the easiest. Plus it doesn't seem like she needs the Four itself as much as she needs it as a stepping stone to Five.

"For the Five, you've got to get a majority of the Class Five-holders on the islands to vote to give you one. You'll have to get their respect. That might be hard for you." Certainly was for you, and you were just native and female. Both of those, from America's old nemesis, and blind? You don't envy her. "You'll probably have to give them some research they'll find useful. I did mine on sensu oricorio."

You concluded that there was no ethical way to train one, but, hey, if you _really_ wanted to try, ethics be damned, here's how you would go about it. The researchers were fascinated by the husbandry parts and the battlers were grateful that you put a new toy in their chest. "Research on the trail can be hard, though. You might want to suspend your challenge."

She shakes her head. "Can't. Challenge Visa."

Maybe she could apply for an academic one… but you aren't even sure if that would work. And even if it was legal, she'd still have to get it through ICE in _this_ administration. You're honestly surprised she got a Challenge Visa in the first place given all the talk about closing the border. Unless she isn't here legally. You'll need to figure that out before she goes for the license, but it seems rude to ask right now.

"I guess you could type it out on the trail if you had to. You'd need a waterproof computer. And, um, you can type, right?"

"I can speak. Then the computer types for me." She pauses. "But I don't have a computer. Or enough money to get one."

Text-to-speech isn't great. At all. You've tried sending text messages with it before and, well, you've always had to go back and type it yourself, along with a clarification that, no, you didn't mean what it looks like you said. And if she doesn't have computer money… "Then how are you going to feed a tyrantrum?"

"I'll figure it out later. Wild pokémon, maybe? It's legal to hunt gumshoos. And she won't get to full size soon."

That's _a lot _of gumshoos. And tyrantrum are probably a little bit touchy. Might not like eating the same thing every day. You don't have to tell her that point blank. Don't want to. Best case scenario is that you lead her on for a while and make some money before she accepts reality on her own. Or, better yet, she gets the Five, you get paid, and then she decides that caring for a tyrantrum while broke is a terrible idea. You can barely afford normal birds.

"Okay." Time to move on. Learn more about her now. There will be time enough to think of the future later. "Any idea what you could research?"

"I speak Lower and Upper Draconic," she says. "I could translate some of the myths."

"Draconic? Like…"

"Dragon language." You open your mouth but can't find an intelligent response. "Although Reshiram said I'm not very good." Her lips thin out into a frown. "Maybe I shouldn't do it."

"Reshiram?"

"We met on Ula'Ula. I greeted her because no one else would. We talked. In Upper Draconic. Then she had to go."

"I see."

"I think I'm better at lower draconic, but that has a lot of dialects. I've met druddigon and charizard and they talked different. Growls were longer, sometimes there were hisses when I would've expected a snort. I sort of got what they were saying and I think they understood me." She tilts her head and a small smile replaces her frown. "I am very good at hydreigon's dialect. And I can mostly understand tyrunt." A frown again. She crosses her legs, earning a yowl of protest from her vulpix. "I think. I did not understand much of _Jurassic Park_ the book, big words and the recording was fast, but I think it said that really smart pokémon might not know their language and culture when they came back. That's why the pyroclaptors went bad. And tyrantrum are dragons, and dragons are smart. Maybe I should teach her dragon myths?"

A lot to process there. There are two (?) dragon (?) languages (?). She was taught by a hydreigon? Yet what interests you the most is none of those things.

"Dragon myths? As in, myths about dragons? Quetzlcoatl and stuff."

She shakes her head and strands of hair fall onto her face. "No. Dragons have their own myths. Alice talked about The Split God, Reshiram and Zekrom. And Kyurem, sort. Then Quetzlcoatl…or Rayquazza…they call him…" What she says is some sequence of growls that somehow still sounds like _language._ "He let dragons fly. Then there's…" the name is a hiss, a strange growl thing that you're pretty sure comes from her mouth more than her throat, and another hiss. It sounds sort of like a reptile trying to say 'Sagaris.' "But Sagaris isn't a god. More of a hero. Like… I'm sorry. I don't know any local heroes. Ohserase? She's Unovan but…"

"I'm know the story." You're a kanaka girl born under American rule. Of course you've heard it. Your high school even put on the play before you got your GED and hit the trail. You always thought it was a silly story: if you _just_ pray to the gods and politely ask the government to care about the people, it will all come to pass. But life isn't a fairy tail. Shit happens, people die, gods and kings march on uncaring.

A glance to the side shows the teenage boy staring at you (or Cuicatl, hard to tell). Maybe you should move this conversation. She's more interesting than you were expecting. "Want to come to my apartment?" you ask. "We can talk more over tea." With Ophelia. And your sister, probably.

She starts to stand and her vulpix jumps to the side, letting out a high-pitched whine as she does. Cuicatl's hand falls to her cane before she collapses it and stows it on her belt. "Can you guide me?"

"Of course."

Her hand's a little cool. You grab it but she slides it up to your elbow and rises to her feet. Oh. Yeah, that is a little less awkward. She uses her free hand to withdraw her vulpix. The beldum trails after her, just above and behind her shoulder.

You meet up Wolsey on the way out, preening and pointedly ignoring a baile-oricorio's mating dance. Good girl. At your whistle she flaps up into the air and lights the way back home.

"I suppose I should say more about myself. I'm a third-year student at U-Alola." Did you already say that? "I help run cognitive tests on birds. Puzzles, occasional speech mimicry. Wolsey here knows some words."

"Hello," Wolsey dutifully adds.

"It's odd to hear about pokémon with religions. Testing them all day, they're smart, sure, but not like _that. _Not human." _Maybe_ Ophelia. Maybe. Even then you're never sure how much is her intelligence and how much is from her borrowed spirits.

Cuicatl frowns and turns towards Wolsey. "Do you have myths?" The firebird warbles something. "Stories about gods. Ancestors. The start of the earth." Cuicatl gets a much happier warble. "Can you tell me? In your own words." The firebird goes into a long song about… something. Cuicatl nods attentively at times and urges her to go on during breaks. Once you're almost back to the apartment she thanks Wolsey and turns to you. "She does. A giant bird with one wing made of a rainbow and the other made of ash gave talonflame their fire." She pauses and purses her lips. "It's kind of similar to the Split God myth."

"Do, uh, birds also speak dragon? Sorry if that's dumb but—"

{I'm psychic. I can understand most pokémon.}

"Ah." Maybe if you weren't quite as tired you'd have a bigger reaction to that but, fuck it, the girl owns a dinosaur, she spoke to Reshiram, there are aliens in Alola and everything's dark, you have a bird that speaks to ghost, the kid has psychic powers and is that really weirder than the other stuff? Guess you'll need to talk to Wolsey later, then, about… something. Screw it. You'll figure it out when you wake up next.

You have to withdraw Wosley in the apartment. Then getting up the stairs in the dark is a pain in the ass you don't really talk much. She seems to manage just fine. Probably all old hat for her. It's only when you're right outside the door that you realize something you probably should've figured out at the very beginning if you weren't exhausted: it was a terrible idea to bring Cuicatl to your apartment.

It's fine. This is fine. You can just smooth things over with Ophelia before letting her in. "Can you stay outside for a bit? My sister _hates _surprises and I want her to know you're coming in."

She grunts her acceptance (you really need to tell her not to do that in front of Ophelia) and slip inside. Your sister appears in the corner, faintly illuminated by pale blue will-o-wisps. "Welcome home, Meredith. You are back sooner than expected."

You curtsy, unsure if she can even see it. "Hello, Eve. The Pokémon Center was not a good place to talk. I invited her over for tea. Would you like tea?"

She grimaces but nods. "So long as she's polite."

"She's blind and not from here. Can you give her a little grace? Please?"

Eve sighs and looks so very, very concerned. She never used to look like that.

"Perhaps."

That's as close to a 'yes' as you're going to get from her.

You go back out and prepare to brief Cuicatl. "She says you can come in. Just be on your best behavior. Full sentences, curtsies, no nicknames, no interruptions. Nothing out of line."

Maybe she nods, maybe she doesn't. Or maybe she doesn't react at all for a long while. "Okay. Is your sister…"

Alright? Bent in the head? An asshole? Definitely not, depends on how you see it, yes but don't tell her that.

"Some bad stuff happened to her a while back. She hurt her head. Maybe don't talk about the island challenge?"

That's all a very polite way of saying that she got hit by a boulder buzzwole had aimed at one of Selene's pokémon. The incineroar dodged, of course, because it was very well trained. The champion said she was very, very sorry for "the accident" but mostly she just looked too exhausted to fully care. It took you a long time, but you understand that now. Can't even blame her.

"I'll try."

"Oh. Final thing? Can you—" She's blind. Obviously, she can't dance. "Sing?"

"I had classes. I did well in them." There's a hint of pride in her voice. Probably good enough.

"Alright. My sister likes music."

Fuck it, you're blocking the hall and Ophelia might be impatient. You open the door again, fumble for Cuicatl's arm for a bit in the dark, and then bring her into the room. Your sister looks up as you enter and looks on expectantly. Yeah, you're the mutual connection, you should give introductions.

You curtsy again. "Hello, Eve. This is Cuicatl Ichtaca, my student. Cuicatl Ichtaca," please don't correct the pronunciation please don't correct the pronunciation hey I know you're psychic please don't correct the pronunciation, "This is Eve, my sister."

She curtsies and Eve relaxes a little. Can she even see it?

"A pleasure to meet you, Miss Ichtaca."

You take that as a sign to guide Cuicatl forward to the table. She sits down well enough. Eve's expressionless. Good enough. "Sister, can you help me prepare the tea. Perhaps Cuicatl can sing to us in the meantime?"

Both get the hint. Eve follows you with sure footing, cold blue flames trailing after her. Cuicatl starts a song. It's strange hearing her speak (or sing, as it were) in her own language. Very different sounds. Come to think of it her accent's pretty good for someone who just got here recently. And she is a good singer. Probably not too much in the way of formal training, but a nice voice. And the song's structure almost sounds like the oricorio songs that you set out to study years ago.

Back then you just wanted to preserve the old songs and dances and maybe relearn some of the old ones. The journey went fine. You did what you set out to do. Beat three islands and came close to beating Nanu on Poni. Pretty good, all things considered.

If you could have you would have given Eve some of your luck. Even if it meant a journey fifty times harder.

You come back with three cups of tea and one of nectar. The nectar is sat in front of Ophelia's seat. The sensu oricorio is perched in the corner, preening in the dim light. Eve wordlessly nods when you place the cup down in front of her chair. Your sister can't drink tea anymore but still wants to feel included.

Once you sit down and press a cup into Cuicatl's hands she stops singing. "What was the song about?" Eve asks.

"A princess meeting her lover in the night." Cuicatl takes a sip. "It is an old song."

Eve's face literally and figuratively lights up at the word 'princess' and damn it for a second she really does look like herself. "Perhaps you can teach me, sometime?"

Cuicatl nods. "I don't know how long I will be in the city. Maybe the next time I'm here?"

"I would like that."

So far, so good. Leading with song was definitely the right way to go about it.

"Meredith, you have a Class Five license, right?"

"I do."

"Why did you get yours?"

"All the money in ornithology these days is in hawlucha care."

The shadows on Cuicatl's face seem to grow darker.

That was the wrong answer.

You should have known it was the wrong answer.

"What wars did you fight in, then? How did it feel when the tlatoani gifted you your hawlucha?"

Eve's expression is no less severe than Cuicatl's, but she says nothing for now. Your pleading look is ignored.

"Cuicatl—"

"What were your captives names, Meredith? Where did you grow up in Anahuac?"

"Back in the 80s the king," or whatever he's called, "gave some to America."

"And he stopped being tlatoani when he did. The birds belong to Huitzilopochtli. Do you know what the crime is for stealing one?"

Yeah. The State Department sent you a whole brochure on it. You were looking at San Antonio for grad school but, hey, you might get kidnapped, dragged across the border in the dead of night, and publicly executed so Unova started looking pretty good in comparison.

"I know. It's not ideal. But I need the money to get off the island and—"

A male voice starts _roaring _in Nahuatl, right next to you. To Cuicatl. "Ophelia, please stop." She does, sort of, dropping the voice to a furious whisper. And Cuicatl's gone still beside you, eyes wide and every muscle tensed up like she's just heard a ghost.

Which, to be fair, she has.

You grab her hand, partially yank her up, and mostly drag her out the door. The whisper doesn't stop completely until you're a block away from the building. Fuck. Fuck. It was going so well then you ran your damn mouth and you never told her why she needed to be formal, hell, girl probably thought she was just making veiled threats at you in front of your autistic sister, and _why the hell do you train channeler birds in the first place, dumbass?_

Well, your potential paycheck vanished. Might as well not be soulless about it. You bring Cuicatl to a bench and let her sit and lean into you and sob for a bit because, damn it, Ophelia, what did you do?

She stops crying eventually and just leans into you and you have an armed wrapped around her like you didn't kind of just maybe torture her and still have a right to comfort her. "Your sister is a ghost-speaker?" She finally asks.

"No. My oricorio is. I'm sorry. I should've told you that she's… like that. Sometimes. I thought if you were just formal enough and sang—"

"I'm useless. I know."

"You're not. My fault. I'm sorry."

She snort-sobs and gets some more snot on your shirt that you're going to ignore. "My brother told me. I knew he must've hated me but hearing him say it was—" She breaks up and starts crying again.

Oh. Her brother. That's. Yeah. You understand that. More than you want to. When Eve…

"It wasn't him. Oricorio can just use the voices of the dead to speak. It's… it's a lot. I know. Trust me. But it wasn't him, whatever it sounded like."

She doesn't answer you. Wolsey does. Sort of. It seems like a song or maybe a story. It doesn't seem to help and eventually he stops altogether.

"'m fine." Cuicatl says. Eventually. "I'll have Nocitlālin take me back to the Center."

"Noci—"

The beldum zooms into the light and towards its trainer. Oh. How long was it hovering around?

"You sure? It's not really—"

"Yes." She holds out her hand and the beldum slips into it. "Goodbye."

* * *

The door opens and you step through. Your sister's in the corner, Ophelia perched in front of her. They look proud, almost. "You're welcome," Eve says.

"For what?"

"She won't threaten you again."

"And she won't teach you her song, either."

There's a flash of pain in her eyes and for once you can't tell who it's coming from.

"You're safe," she whispers. "That's what matters."

This is hopeless. You'll sleep and then get back to it in the afternoon once she's calmed down a bit. Or maybe you won't. The kid was making death threats, even if she couldn't or wouldn't act on them. Is this the hill you want your sanity to die on? This wasn't the first time she tortured someone with the voices of the dead. Won't be the last. Might as well not be you.

Eve cuts you off before you can open the bedroom door.

"You said you're leaving."

Right. Shit. Yeah. That's what you get for having people over when you're tired.

"I'll take you. Don't worry about it."

Pale fire ripples across her body. "Where are you going to?"

"Florida? Orre? Unova? Don't know. Somewhere that doesn't feel like an alien-infested graveyard."

You close the bedroom door behind you without looking at her face. It's rude and Ophelia will have _words_ with you when you wake up, but now you just need to sleep. Or try. Truth is, you're not a good person. You thought you were once. Might have been. Because a good person would've accepted the message in your thesis, that there isn't an ethical way to raise a bird that terrorizes people with the ghosts of dead relatives. Except you're willing to sit back and let a bunch of terrible shit happen to someone else if it means you get to see Eve's face in the morning.

No. You're a bad person and you know it. Most of the time you just wish you were even worse. Because you could sleep at night if you could look a sobbing child in the eyes and feel nothing.

And then you wouldn't be so damn tired all the time.


End file.
